What historical role did Peradeniya Gardens play during World War II?

During World War II, the Peradeniya Botanical Gardens became the highly classified HQ for the Supreme Allied Commander of the South East Asia Command (SEAC), Lord Louis Mountbatten.

From 1943 to 1945, Mountbatten made use of the dense foliage and the tucked-away inland position of the gardens to help coordinate huge military offensives against Japanese forces across Burma, Malaya, and the wider Asian theatre. In that tense time, a few of the older colonial bungalows and the administrative buildings that were scattered around the park were reused as crucial war rooms for daily planning.