Charles Anthony Brigade

The Charles Anthony Brigade, was the first conventional fighting formation created by the LTTE. It was founded on 10 April 1991, and was initially trained under the leadership of Col. Balraj. It was one of the oldest and most highly trained infantry units of the Tamil Tigers. It participated in many conventional battles fought against the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) including Operation Jayasikurui, Battle of Mullaitivu, Battle of Kilinochchi and Second Battle of Elephant Pass.

Military analysts said that with the fall of Elephant Pass the Charles Anthony Brigade established the Tigers as the only non-state military force in the world capable of complex military manoeuvres. The Elephant Pass was described as "impregnable" by a US army officer who visited the garrison months before its fall to the Tamil Tigers in April 2000.

Charles Lucas Anthony, from Trincomalee District of Sri Lanka, was a close associate of LTTE leader Vellupillai Pirapaharan, and was killed in a close encounter with Sri Lankan Army soldiers in Meesalai on 15 July 1983. Pirapaharan named the Charles Anthony Brigade as a tribute to his close friend.

Charles Anthony

Charles Anthony may refer to:

See also

Charles Anthony (tenor)

Charles Anthony Caruso (né Calogero Antonio Caruso; July 15, 1929 – February 15, 2012), better known by his stage name of Charles Anthony, was an American actor, and tenor noted for his portrayal of comprimario characters in opera. Anthony had the distinction of appearing in more performances at the Metropolitan Opera than any other performer. He celebrated his fiftieth anniversary with the company in 2004, and gave his farewell in the role of the aged Emperor Altoum in Turandot, at the Met, on January 28, 2010.

Early years

Anthony was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, the child of immigrants from Sicily. He studied music at Loyola University New Orleans, where he studied under Dorothy Hulse, also the teacher of Audrey Schuh and Harry Theyard; he graduated in 1951. The tenor sang the role of the Messenger in Il trovatore, at the New Orleans Opera Association, in 1947. At the age of twenty-two, he auditioned under his birth name for the Metropolitan Opera's Auditions of the Air. He won the auditions, but Sir Rudolf Bing convinced him to drop his surname, saying that it would invite comparisons with Enrico Caruso.

Velupillai Prabhakaran

Thiruvenkadam Velupillai Prabhakaran ( listen (Tamil: வேலுப்பிள்ளை பிரபாகரன்; November 26, 1954 – May 18, 2009) was the founder and leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (the LTTE or the Tamil Tigers), a militant organization that sought to create an independent Tamil state in the north and east of Sri Lanka.

For over 25 years, the LTTE waged a violent secessionist campaign in Sri Lanka to create an independent state for the Tamil people. Founded in 1976, the LTTE rocketed to prominence in 1983 after they ambushed a patrol of the Sri Lanka Army outside Jaffna, resulting in the deaths of 13 soldiers. This ambush, along with the subsequent rioting which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Tamil civilians, is generally considered the start of the Sri Lankan Civil War. After years of fighting, including the unsuccessful intervention of the Indian Army (IPKF), the conflict was halted after international mediation in 2001. By then, the Tamil Tigers controlled large swathes of land in the north and east of the country, running virtually a mini-state with Prabhakaran serving as its unquestioned leader. Peace talks eventually broke down, and the Sri Lanka Army launched a military campaign to defeat the Tamil Tigers in 2006.