There are two war memorials at the Elephant Pass, which is the most important link between Jaffna Peninsula and mainland Sri Lanka. The northern one on the peninsula celebrates the unity of the island. The memorial at the southern end of the causeway is dedicated to Sri Lanka’s most famous war hero of recent decades, who lost his lifewhen he successfully stopped an attack of an armoured bulldozer by approaching it and tossing grenades into it. Gamini Kularatne is also known as Hasalaka Gamini after his, named after his home village. His death contributed significantly to prevent the Sri Lanka army garrison from being overrun  during this massive attack of about 5000 secessionist guerilla fighters, which was launched on the night of 10 July 1991, to overrun the garrison of about 600 army troops. The fight known as the First Battle of Elephant Pass continued for 18 days and cost about 2000 lives, being one of the most ferocious combats of Sri Lanka’s civil war. Finally, an army force of 10,000 soldiers conducted an amphibious landing to reinforce the defenders, decisively helping to repel the attackers successfully. The war memorial honoroung Gamini Kularatne was set up after the end of the war.