SHOT DEAD BY FANATIC.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19412, 21 August 1926, Page 2 (Supplement)

SHOT DEAD BY FANATIC.

AN INDIAN STREET TRAGEDY. BRITISH OFFICER'S FATE. . THE LURE OF ADVENTURE. SECRETS OF NATIVE REBELS. Colonel Henry Arthur Bransbury, D.5.0., shot dead by a fanatic in the streets of Lucknow, was a victim of an irresistible attraction toward India and the fanaticism of its natives. Only 49 years old, and unmarried, the colonel had been in command of the Luckiiow Hospital since last December, He was shot dead in the street by a bearer, who also attacked his groom and killed the groom's wife. Colonel Bransbury, the son of Mrs. F. M. Bransbury, 'of Redhill, saw service with the army in the South African War, and at the close took an appointment as house surgeon at St. George's Hospital. The lure of adventure took him abroad rhany times, and finally called him back to the army on the outbreak of war 12 years ago. He served with the R.A.M.C. in France, India, 'and Mespotamia, being one of those who volunteered for duty when the fact 'about the breakdown of the medical service in Mespotamia leaked out. He was twice mentioned in dispatches.

The deceased had a passion for probing mysteries associated with rare diseases, and he undertook perilous adventures into remote parts pf India, and other countries, with the object of adding to his store, of knowledge. In these quests, always fraught with danger, from pestilence, or from the hate of the native he encountered, he developed a rare knowledge of the people and their ways. His passion for rubbing shoulders with danger, and his enthusiasm for learning all he <ould about tropical diseases, caused hifl to make long excursions in his holidays into the interior, and to mix with the natives as one of themselves—a thing he was able to do because he had mastered the language, the dialects, and the customs of the people. Among the Fanatics. Colonel Bransbury came into contact with every undercurrent of unrest in India, aud no man had a clearer conception of what, is going on under the surface in that part of the Empire. One of the things forced on him shortly before his death was the growing number of fanatics who were let loose in the country with the fixed determination to kill someone associated with " the hated English rule."

As recently as a month before his death Colonel Bransbury had urged that everything pointed to a state of unrest in tne lower strata .'of the native population, suggestive of the,davs of the and he nad pressed on the political officers the need for taking measures to deal with' the evil, It was, therefore, all the more remarkable that he himself should be the first victim of. the fanatics whose presence in the country he had found out when mixing with the throngs in the bazaars he used to frequent in order to perfect' his knowledge of the people and'their ways. Despite his, detestation of the methods, of the Indian revolutionaries, Colonel Bransbury was one.of the old school of Indian administrators, who had immense ad-' miration for the people, and'had their confidence as an officer brought up with a passionate love for justice and the finer traditions of 'British rule in India.

Tracked Down by Secret Society. Though the attack on the colonel was apparently the result of an accidental meeting, there is reason to think, that he had been tracked down by one of the many secret societies.in, India whose mern" bers suspected him of knowing more, about their secrets than they liked. Some "time ago he had made a journey into the hill country in the role of a native student of medicine, and he apparently surprised some of the members of one of these societies, for he was set on one night by a party of armed men, and only escaped by the timely intervention of an influential Indian whose life he had saved. It is thought that Colonel Bransbury acoidently stumbled on a meeting-place of this, society, and the members taking it in their heads that he was really a. political officer sent to find out their secrets, had vowed'his death. He himself was convinced that lie was followed all the way back to Lucknow, and that emissaries of the society were never far from his trail until the tragedy'came. Escpae from Dacoits. One of the secrets that Colonel Bransbury had probed was in connection with the revival of dacoitry. He had ventured into the haunts of one of the worst of these gangs, and on one occasion had a narrow escape from death. They-had Suspicions that he knew of their presence, for in the night they made an attempt to enter his room and kill him. Fortunately, Colonel Bransbury was alert, and on hearing the noise he got out' of bed. ' After arranging the clothing to suggest that he was still there he hid in a recess; and when the 1 stealthy figure stole into the room the Colonel opened fire. The native was wounded, but managed to escape with the aid of his accomplices, leaving behind him as a grim trophy for the Colonel a piece of thin rope,- the only Weapon used by these bandits in despatching their victims.