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VERNON ARNOLDA - the most senior Old Ben in Australia by DOUG JONES

Was it the thrill of riding motorcycles and driving armoured vehicles that lured Vernon Arnolda into the Armed Forces? Or the macho ideals envisioned at an impressionable age in the College Cadet Corps? Did his passion for Gene Autry, Roy Rogers and Hopalong Cassidy have anything to do with it? Most likely, all of these and more, in some way, aroused the sense of daring and adventure in the young lad blessed with a lot of adrenalin to play with.
No doubt, as evinced in his later life, Vernon had the nous, the guts and the determination to make it to the top in whatever venture he undertook.
Vernon, who notched up a robust 93 on April 16 this year, is the second-most senior Old Ben around, after Terrence Perera (in Sri Lanka) who is 96. Vernon was born in Pickerings Road just a short sprint away from St Lucia�s Cathedral, Good Shepherd Convent and St Benedict�s College and was a Kotahena boy through and through. Like many of them, he started his initial schooling at the Convent at five, following it up at St Benedict�s three years later.
His first teacher at College was Miss Toussaint and then Miss Moldrich. Then came Brother Francis who taught him in Standard 2. At various times he was also taught by Brothers Rene Albert, Hugh Farringdon, Stephen Harding, Ceasar and several other distinguished lay teachers.
Vernon became a boarder at ten. He remembers that he was �not happy!� in the boarding. Brother Abel was Prefect of the Senior Boarders and Brother Francis was in charge of the Juniors. At dinnertime on his first night as a boarder, he was seated with all the other juniors, at a table near Brother Abel who sensed that Vernon was not a happy chappie and called him over and gave him an apple. It was obviously done to ease the pain of a little boy, suddenly finding himself away from the warmth of a happy home only a short trot away.
No matter that his family home was only whistling distance away from the boarding, Vernon was not allowed home on weekends, unless he got a Green Mark in his weekly chart book, showing his progress during the week. Green Marks can be hard things to come by when one�s not exactly in tune with one�s surroundings�. Somehow, Vernon soon managed to go home once a month because his mother intervened with a request to the Boarding Prefect that he be sent home on weekends. Most of all, he loved the freedom that this gave him � he delved into his Cowboy books, which, otherwise, the Brothers in the boarding would have confiscated.
All boarders, of whatever religious persuasion, had to attend daily Mass at St Lucia�s Cathedral. Vernon�s companions among fellow boarders included Ben Motha, Joseph DeVotta, Gerry Muller, Joe Caspersz, Teddy and Harry Benzie, Edward Jayatunge, Walter Masefield, Gregory Fernando, R.L.Perera and brothers Joe and Wolstan D�Abrera.
Vernon played cricket for College at the age of 12 when he was picked for the Under-16 team. By the time he was 15, he was a regular member in the First XI squad and played under various captains including Terrence Perera. Matches were usually played in Colombo on grounds hired from various clubs as St Benedict�s did not have their own playing fields. Games versus schools such as Royal, St Thomas� and St Joseph�s were held on the grounds of those respective schools. But the most enjoyable were the ones played against St Anthony�s College, which entailed a trip to the Hill Country lasting about three days. Cricket practises took place on the quadrangle.
Vernon was an accomplished tennis player and also played soccer. He was an athlete in his last two years in College. He shared the Senior Athletics championship cup with two others named de Soysa and Mahendran, as he now recalls. He also represented College in the Schools Athletic Competetion run by the Amateur Athletic Association in the Pole Vault clearing 10�4�� breaking the All-Ceylon record of 10�2��. This was at a time when there were no coaches and Vernon had to teach himself the techniques he required from a book on Pole Vaulting produced by Spaulding of USA.
He was a junior cadet in the College cadet battalion commanded by Lt. Victor de Silva and moved to senior ranks under Capt. Joachim Mendis who commanded the Senior Cadets. Vernon�s career ended in the Ceylon cadet batallion as Company Sargeant Major of �B� Company comprising of Zahira College, Ananda College, Nalanda College and St Benedict�s.
Vernon was a tender 18-years old when left College in 1934.
He entered Technical College for the BSc (Engineering) degree of the London University and in 1938, he persuaded a few close friends � Bubby Perera, Kingsley Blake, Eric Holdenbottle and Eustace Ebert-to join the Ceylon Army Service Corps together. When the war broke out in 1939 there was conscription and from September of that year, Vernon and his friends became part of the British Army. Vernon won the Best Recruit�s Cup that year.
In 1941, Vernon was commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant in the First Coast Regiment of the Ceylon Garrison Artillery and throughout the war, manned 9.2� guns at Galle Face Battery and 6� heavy artillery guns at Rockhouse Battery and Battenberg Battery, and 40mm Anti-aircraft Bofor guns in Colombo and later, similar equipment in Trincomalee. It was at the Rockhouse Battery in Mutwal that he met up with his old friend and cricket captain Terrence Perera. Terrence was a Sergeant at the time and had been given the job of training all the young officers in gun drill, manning of guns and loading of 100 lb shells and firing the guns. Terrence fared so well at his duties that he was soon made Battery Sergeant Major. With his team of 30 gunners led by Terrence helping him, Vernon with his men later began dismantling the 6� guns and mounting the latest 6� guns in their place � a risky task that lasted 30 days, without a single casualty.
Towards the war�s end, Vernon was promoted to Field Officer Rank as a Major. The men were disbanded and soon after Ceylon gained Independence, the Ceylon Army was inaugurated. Because of experience gained in the war years, Vernon was asked to take over all the Artillery equipment in Colombo from the British Army for Ceylon.
When the Ceylon Army became a reality, he received a medal to mark the occasion. When a Volunteer Artillery Unit was formed, Vernon was appointed Commanding Officer with rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. He was then awarded the Efficiency Decoration (ED) pinned on his chest by the then Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike at a special parade held on Echelon Square.
Vernon married Princesse Eugene Thiedeman in 1943 and celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary in September 2008. Vernon and Princesse have two daughters Jeanne and Barbara and a son Darryl (an Old Ben, of course!) They have six grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren.
His favourite pastime was Rifle Shooting at which he has won many trophies and awards, the most cherished of which is the Silver Medal from the National Rifle Association of Great Britain for attaining the Highest Aggregate Score in their annual competition.
Vernon and Princesse migrated to Australia in 2003 and live with Jeanne in Australia�s Capital city of Canberra, in the suburb of Monash. Their telephone number is 02-6292 1370. Barbara lives in Geelong, VIC, and Darryl lives in Bankstown, NSW.

Posted by dougjay on July 29 2009 08:13:15 � 0 Comments � 490 Reads

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