in 1900 It is not exactly known as to when Diyatalawa became a training station for troops, but available records show that it was selected around 1885, when the
British Army first established a
garrison at Diyatalawa. At that time training was conducted at the
Imperial Camp which is presently occupied by the
Gemunu Watch troops. In 1900, the
British War Office constructed a concentration camp in
Diyatalawa to house Boer prisoners captured in the
Second Boer War. Initially constructed to house 2500 prisoners and 1000 guards and staff, the number of prisoners increased to 5000. During
World War I an internment camp for enemy aliens was set up. Early in World War II the camp was reopened and German nationals resident in Hong Kong and Singapore, as well as many sailors, like those removed from the
Asama Maru in violation of international law, were housed here. Also imprisoned were Buddhist monks of German extraction like
Nyanaponika and
Govinda Anagarika who had acquired British citizenship. In June 1941 most of the sailors were transferred to Canada. The section for Germans was sensibly divided in a pro- and anti-Nazi wing. There was also a section set up to house
Italian POWs. After the Japanese started bombing the island, inmates were on 23 February 1942 transferred to camps on the mainland. Males usually went to
Dehradun. After independence the facilities of the British Army were taken over by the newly established Ceylon Army, and Diyatalawa became the primary training grounds for the young army with the establishment in 1950 the
Army Recruit Training Depot later renamed at the
Army Training Centre. Several of the army's regiments were resided here,
1st Field Squadron, Ceylon Engineers (1951),
Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment (1956),
Gemunu Watch (1962). The
Royal Navy had a rest camp,
HMS Uva, which was situated at Diyatalawa with recreational facilities; this was later taken over by the
Royal Ceylon Navy in 1956, commissioning it as HMCYS
Rangalla and established its training center there. They had to move out in 1962 and it was taken over by the
Gemunu Watch. On 14 March 2013, the
Security Forces Headquarters – Central the youngest of the seven commands of the Sri Lanka Army was formed at Diyatalawa. Prior to this Diyatalawa served as an Area Headquarters. Army Training Command (ARTRAC) was inaugurated on 29 January 2012 at Diyatalawa. ARTRAC was established as a separate organization for doctrinal development and training monitoring of Sri Lanka Army. ==Training centers==