George William Symes

Major-General George William Symes, (12 January 1896 – 26 August 1980) was a senior British Army officer who served in the First World War, in which he was twice awarded the Military Cross. During the Second World War he commanded the 70th Infantry Division in India, and was deputy commander of the Special Force, commonly known as the Chindits, in Burma. He was deputy commander of the lines of communication of the 21st Army Group from May to November 1944, and then commanded the lines of communication in South East Asia Command. In June 1945, he became general officer commanding in Southern Burma.

In 1949, he retired from the British Army and emigrated to Australia, where he became one of the first directors of Santos from its initial incorporation in Adelaide on 18 March 1954 until he retired in 1978. He was private secretary to two South Australian Governors, Sir Robert George and Sir Edric Bastyan.

Early life and First World War George William Symes was born in Minterne Magna, Dorset, on 12 January 1896, the son of George Symes, a sergeant major in the Royal Artillery, and his wife Eliza née Paulley. He attended Bridport Secondary School.

After the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, he enlisted in the British Army. He entered the Royal Military College, Sandhurst and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Durham Light Infantry on 14 June 1915. On 22 February 1916, he was seconded to the Machine Gun Corps, and was sent to the Western Front the next day. He was assigned to the 69th Machine Gun Company, part of the 23rd Division. He was promoted to lieutenant on 1 November 1916. Later that month he was awarded the Military Cross (MC). His citation read:

On 1 July 1917, he received a commission in the Regular Army as a lieutenant in the York and Lancaster Regiment, with seniority backdated to 31 January 1917. In November 1917, his unit was transferred to the Italian Front. He was promoted to acting captain on 3 April 1918, and acting major on 8 November 1918, three days before the Great War came to an end with the signing of the armistice of 11 November 1918. Serving mainly on his regimental duties through the first half of the interwar period, Symes was selected to attend the Staff College, Camberley, on 20 January 1931, and was promoted to brevet major on 1 January 1932. His fellow students there included men such as John Nichols, William Gott, Miles Dempsey, George Hopkinson and Maurice Chilton. On completing the course he was posted to the Royal School of Artillery as a General Staff Officer (GSO) on 15 January 1933. He then became a brigade major with the 14th Infantry Brigade, then commanded by Brigadier Henry Maitland-Makgill-Crichton, on 1 November 1934, The brigade, part of the 5th Infantry Division, was then stationed in North Yorkshire before being posted to Palestine on internal security duties during the 1936–1939 Arab revolt. Symes held this post until being sent to India as a GSO (Grade 2) on 6 September 1937. He was finally promoted to the substantive rank of major on 1 August 1938, nearly twenty years after he had first held the rank, and then to brevet lieutenant colonel on 1 January 1939. On 11 December 1939, three months after the Second World War began, he married an Australian woman, Katherine Bellairs Lucas, in a ceremony at St John's Anglican Church in Colaba, Bombay, India. He became general officer commanding (GOC) of the 70th Infantry Division on 18 February 1942.

In November 1944, Symes returned to India as commander of the Lines of Communication in South East Asia Command (SEAC). In June 1945, he became GOC in Southern Burma. His period in command in Burma included the final Japanese surrender, and the early push for Burmese independence. and was mentioned in despatches on 19 September 1946.

Later life Memorial to George and Katherine Symes in Sheffield Cathedral. Returning to the United Kingdom, Symes was appointed GOC South Western District on 20 March 1946, at the same time becoming Colonel of the York and Lancaster Regiment. When the 43rd Division was re-formed in April 1947, he became its GOC as well. and emigrated to Australia, where he settled in Adelaide. He served as one of the first directors of Santos (South Australia-Northern Territory Oil Search), an oil and gas company, from its initial incorporation in Adelaide on 18 March 1954 until he retired in 1978. The company acquired exploration leases to in South Australia and Queensland.

From 1956 to 1964, Symes was private secretary to the governor of South Australia, first Sir Robert George until 1960, and then Sir Edric Bastyan, under whom he had served in South East Asia Command during the war.