Henry Alfred Symonds

Henry Alfred Symonds was a Rottenführer in the Waffen-SS British Free Corps during the Second World War. Born in Willesden in 1924, he had originally joined the East Surrey Regiment at the age of 17, and then volunteered to become a paratrooper but had lost his nerve after his third jump and been transferred into Princess Louise’s Kensington Regiment. He was captured in Italy on 4 October 1943. He 'decided, after some initial hesitation, to stay on' in the BFC in December 1943. In February 1945 he made [successful] representations to go to the isolation camp at Drönnewitz. He gave evidence for the defence in the trial of Edwin Barnard Martin. He was sentenced to fifteen years' imprisonment after the War.