Henry Homer SYMONDS

Henry Homer SYMONDS Update Details

If you confirm that you want to proceed with the update, this record will be locked for editing by all other users until you have finished. You will have 7 days to complete your changes before they will be automatically submitted.

Do you want to proceed?

SYMONDS, Henry Homer

Service Numbers:	4301, W27525
Enlisted:	17 August 1915
Last Rank:	Lieutenant Colonel
Last Unit:	10 Garrison Battalion (WA)
Born:	Albany, Western Australia, 21 October 1894
Home Town:	Darkan, West Arthur, Western Australia
Schooling:	Not yet discovered
Occupation:	Sailor
Died:	Perth, Western Australia, 19 July 1969, aged 74 years, cause of death not yet discovered
Cemetery:	Karrakatta Cemetery & Crematorium, Western Australia https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/213518573/henry-homer-symonds
Memorials:

World War 1 Service

17 Aug 1915:	Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 4301, 6th Infantry Battalion
29 Dec 1915:	Involvement Private, 4301, 6th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '8' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Demosthenes embarkation_ship_number: A64 public_note: ''
29 Dec 1915:	Embarked Private, 4301, 6th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Demosthenes, Melbourne
29 Mar 1916:	Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 4301, 6th Infantry Battalion, embarked Alexandria for Marseilles
15 May 1919:	Embarked AIF WW1, Lieutenant, 4301, 6th Infantry Battalion, embarked England for Fremantle on board HT Ypiringa
27 Aug 1920:	Discharged AIF WW1, Lieutenant Colonel, 4301, 6th Infantry Battalion

World War 2 Service

13 Jan 1941:	Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , W27525, 10 Garrison Battalion (WA)
28 Jul 1945:	Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , W27525, 10 Garrison Battalion (WA)

Help us honour Henry Homer Symonds's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.

Biography contributed by Chris Buckley

Lieutenant Henry Homer Symonds (Service No:4301) served six months with Senior Cadets Bunbury before enlisting in the AIF in Kalgoorlie on 17 August 1915, and was a Private attached to 6th Infantry Battalion on 29 December 1915 when he embarked with his Unit from Melbourne for Egypt on board HMAT A64 Demosthenes. Private Symonds embarked from Alexandria for Marseilles on 29 March 1916 for service on the Western Front, where he served with 1st Anzac Entrenching Battalion in France in 1916. On 15 May 1919 Lieutenant Symonds embarked from England for Fremantle on board HT Ypiringa, and his Appointment was Terminated on 27 August 1920. In WWII, Lieutenant Symonds (Service No:W27525) enlisted in the ACMF in Kalgoorlie on 13 January 1941, and served with 10 Garrison Battalion (WA), 11 Labour Coy and 12 Employment Coy. Major Symonds was attached to 10 Garrison Battalion (WA) on 28 July 1945 when he was placed on the Retired List.

Henry was born in Albany, Western Australia in 1894, fourth of eight children of Job (Joe) Augustus Symonds (b1868 in London, England) and his first wife Alice Cook (b1859 in Essex, England). Joe had run away from home as a nine year old to work on the Thames Barges, and as a twelve year old joined the Royal Navy and then the Merchant Navy. He was an Able Seaman on board the Yeovil in 1887 when he arrived in Albany, Western Australia. Alice (a Domestic Servant) arrived in Albany in 1889 on board the Oroya, and Joe (Assistant Lighthouse Keeper on Breaksea Island off Albany) and Alice married on Breaksea Island in 1889. Joe and Alice lived in Albany, where Joe was Chief Lighthouse Keeper, Pilot and Diver before moving to Rottnest Island in 1901 where he was the Harbour Pilot. In 1908 Joe and Alice moved with their family to Bunbury, where Joe was Pilot Assistant Harbour Master, and in 1909 moved to Darkan via Collie where he was a Farmer. By 1912 Joe had returned to sea with the Australian Lighthouse Service, serving in the Royal Navy in WWI. Alice and the children remained in Darkan, and by 1930 Joe had settled in Queensland.

Henry was a Sailor living in Darkan when he enlisted in the AIF in 1915, and following his Discharge, returned to Darkan, where his occupation is given as Businessman in the Electoral Rolls. By the early 1930s Henry was an Agent in Perth, and was an Engine Driver iin Coolgardie in 1935 when he married Doris Pearl Richards (b1910 in Coolgardie, Western Australia). Henry and Doris settled in Fremantle following Henry's Discharge from the Army, and were Shopkeepers until the early 1950s, when they separated. Doris remarried and Henry settled in Perth, where he worked as a Clerk. Henry died in 1969 and Doris in 1995,

Virtual
War Memorial
Australia