Galle Face Green, which was presided over by Colvin R de Silva and addressed by Dr N. M. Perera, Philip Gunawardena, Leslie Goonewardena, A.E.Goonesinha, George E. de Silva, D. M. Rajapakse, Siripala Samarakkody, Vernon Gunasekera, Handy Perimbanayagam, Mrs Satyawagiswara Iyer and S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike. Bracegirdle made a dramatic appearance on the platform at this rally, but the police were powerless to arrest him. The police managed to arrest him a couple of days later at the Hulftsdorp residence of Vernon Gunasekera, the Secretary of the LSSP. However, the necessary legal preparations had been made. A writ of Habeas Corpus was served and the case was called before a bench of three Supreme Court judges presided over by Chief Justice Sir Sidney Abrahams. H.V. Perera, the county's leading civil lawyer, volunteered his services free on behalf of Bracegirdle; he was made a King's Counsel (KC) on the day that Bracegirdle appeared in court. On 18 May order was made that he could not be deported for exercising his right to free speech, and Bracegirdle was a free man. That summer he returned to England. He was seen off at the jetty by Dr N.M. Perera, Mrs Selina Perera, Vernon Gunasekera and Udakandawala Saranankara Thero. Later life In 1939, he married Mary Elizabeth Vinden. He was a conscientious objector during the Second World War. After the war he qualified as an engineer and settled in Gloucestershire. He joined the Aldermaston marches organised by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. He became a committed member of the Labour Party. In the 1970s he worked as a transport manager for the Flying Doctors service in Zambia. Towards the end of his working life, he lectured in engineering at North London Polytechnic. On retirement, he studied archaeology and worked voluntarily for the University of London. His interests included the history of Chinese scripts, the theories of Darwin, Leninism and Marxism, Roman glass, ornithology, farming, art and design. He died on 22 June 1999, leaving three daughters, a son and five grandchildren. References Further reading Wesley S Muthiah, 'Mark Anthony Lyster Bracegirdle (1912–1999): A Traitor to the Imperialist Cause', What Next, No 14 (1999) Vinod Moonesinghe, 'Sri Lanka: Mark Bracegirdle and the revolt against empire', Socialist Worker, No 2035 (27 January 2007) Vinod Moonesinghe, Sri Lanka’s Independence and the Bracegirdle incident, Daily News (Sri Lanka), 30 April 2011 1912 births 1999 deaths People from Chelsea,