The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia
|
| Previous: Centrifugal Offensive | Table of Contents | Next: Ch'en Ch'eng |
Ceylon is a large island (25,000
square miles or 65,000 km2) located off
the southeast coast of India. The island has a wet tropical climate and was heavily forested except where the land was cleared for plantations, mostly of tea. The driest
parts of the island are the northwest and southeast, while the east and
northeast receive some moisture during the winter monsoon
and the southwest receives considerable moisture during the summer
monsoon. The channel between the island and India, the Palk Strait, is
blocked by limestone shoals, the
remnants of a land bridge (Rama's Bridge) that may have been passable
by foot as late as 1480. Most of the island is coastal plain,
surrouding a core of granite mountains whose highest point at Mount Pidurutalagala reaches 8,281' (2,524m). Much of the shoreline was mangrove swamp.
The two main ports
of Colombo and Trincomalee
were poorly developed as military bases in 1941, and the islands was
somewhat
exposed, leading the British
to develop a
secret fleet anchorage at Addu
Atoll.
The Japanese Navy would have liked to have
captured Ceylon in 1942, and developed plans for a landing at Jaffna, but the Army demurred on providing the
necessary divisions. However, the
island was worked over during the Indian
Ocean raid of early 1942.
The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia © 2007, 2011 by Kent G. Budge. Index
