A THRILLING BATTLE.

Taranaki Daily News, 15 April 1922, Page 11

A THRILLING BATTLE.

LIFE-AND-DEATH DUEL BETWEEN MAPLE AND PURSUER. ARMED TRACKERS HELD UP. Melbourne, March 18 There were sensational developments during the week-end in connection with the pursuit of t?wo boy bushrangers by large bodies of police and citizens in the bush in Neerim district. The elder of the two boys, Robert Banks (18), surrendered on Saturday afternoon, and later a thrilling bush battle took place between George Woolstencroft (21), a returned soldier, and Henry Maple (16), the other fugitive. The story of the bushrangers begins with the escape of Banks and Maple from reformatory homes—one from Castlemaine and the other from Royal Park. They are alleged to have broken into the Junction Co-operative Stores at Neerim South. Probably it was from there that they got a rifle each and ammunition, and the owner reports that £lOOO worth of goods, a rifle, and 2000 rounds oi ammunition were stolen. Anyhow they each had a rifle when they appeared on Friday morning before the house of a farmer named Johnstone in the same district, and fired twelve shots round the premises. That was at 3.30 a.m. Three horns later the farmer’s daughter, Bessie, opened the door leading into the yard, and stepped back just in time to miss a bullet which came from behind a stump fifty yards away. Then the police got to hear of the affair, and several of them went out to arrest the boys. It was when they came to close quarters that Bartils received a bullet in' reply to his demand •for surrender. A duel of bullets followed, both the police and the youths being protected by the bush. No one was hit by the exchange of shots, but the police exhausted their ammunition, and had to retire. Meanwhile Maple and Banks got away into the bush.

POPULATION ARMED A hue-and-cry was raised. Reinforcements were rushed out from Sale by motor-car, carrying four service rifles, 50 rounds of ammunition, field glasses—in fact all the equipment of war on a small scale. The bush was searched throughout the night, but the youths could not be found. Maple was said to know the locality thoroughly, and to have an intimate knowledge of the thick bush in the district. At Neerim Junction everybody obtained some sort of a rifle or revolver and joined in the chase. Led by black trackers, the searchers set out for Latrobe river, where Maple and Banks ’were last seen. The party split up into two divisions, but the only result was one party was nearly fired on by

the other, being mistaken for the boys moving through the scrub. Various reports led the searchers on the track o-f the youths, and with about 40 policemen, besides practically every man in the district engaged in the search, it was decided to sweep across every inch of the district in which the boys were known to be. Firing from behindi a log with deadly accuracy, Maple found an easy target in Woolstencroft, mounted on horseback, and the returned soldier was shot in the’shoulders and through the lung. He is lying in hospital in a serious condition. Woolstencroft, who manages his father’s store at Noojee, has taken a prominent part in the chase, and on Saturday afternoon came across Banks walking along a road towards Neerim Junction. Banks was unarmed, and willingly surrendered. After ravenously eating food supplied, the disconsolate youth told the s-tory of his sufferings in the bush, repeatedly whimpering, “Never again! No more bushranging for me!” A LIFE AND DEATH DUEL. The arrest of Banks did not appreciably relieve the situation. He told the police that Maple left him to go home for food. As soon as Maple was out of sight Banks said he threw away his shotgun and took to the open road. Woolstencroft had just delivered his I charge over to the police when a cry was raised that Maple was crossing the paddocks on the bush fringe behind Neerim Junction'. Despite warning cries Woolstencroft rode his horse at breakneck speed down the road, his rifle in one hand and the bridle in the other. Jumping a fence, horse and rider approached the bush, where Maple was hiding behind a log. Woolstencroft swung his gun to the level, and there and then commenced a duel of life and death. As soon as he pointed his gun there was the report of a shot from behind the log. and the next moment thd stock of the returned soldier’s gun was shattered. Flinging his useless weapon away Wooldteneroft was in the act of , feeling for his automatic revolver when another shot from behind the log passed through his shoulder. He swung round his horse and galloped for the nearest cover; but, firing with unerring aim, the youth behind the log sent another shot, after the horseman, which entered the lung. The rider lell sideways in a. heap from the horse, a bush nurse rushing out to give him assistance and stem ; the flow of blood from his wounds. The desperate Maple lost no time, and darted into the'bush, eluding his pursuers once again. Tc make th© going easier he dropped a heavy military overcoat, in which the police found pea-rifle bullets, with dum-dum effects.

The pursuit was continued all day, but for a period Maple eluded his pursuers. The* police were instructed to shoot him on sight. Maple was subsequently surrounded, and either shot himself or was shot dead by one of the police party.