Cocos Islands mutiny | |||||||
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Part of World War II | |||||||
Map of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Ceylonese mutineers | |||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Captain Gardiner | Gratien Fernando | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
26 men Six-inch (152 mm) guns |
15 men 1 Bren light machine gun Six-inch (152 mm) and nine-inch (227 mm) guns | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
1 killed 1 wounded |
3 executed 8 imprisoned |
The Cocos Islands mutiny was a failed mutiny by Sri Lankan soldiers against British officers, on the Cocos (Keeling) Islands on 8 May 1942, during the Second World War.
The mutineers attempted to seize control of the islands and disable the British garrison. However, the mutiny was defeated, the mutineers punished, and the three ringleaders executed; the only British Commonwealth servicemen to be executed for mutiny during the Second World War.