65371 Major Augustus Henry Serocold COOMBE-TENNANT, MC, MiD, 2 Welsh Guards: POW, E&E

Personal Number: 65371
Rank: Major
Name: Augustus Henry Serocold COOMBE-TENNANT, MC, MiD
Unit: 2 Welsh Guards

Date of Birth: 9 April 1913
Place of Birth: Neath, Wales
Date of Death: 1989

Date of Capture: 25 May 1940
Place of Capture: Boulogne, France

POW Number: 506
POW Camps: Oflag VIIC



London Gazette : 5 July 1935
https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/34177/page/4345/data.pdf
GENERAL LIST.
UNIVERSITY CANDIDATES.
The undermentioned to be 2nd Lts. 5th July 1935: —
Augustus Henry 'Serocold COOMBE-TENNANT.

London Gazette : 31 August 1937
https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/34431/page/5510/data.pdf
The undermentioned 2nd Lts. to be Lts. 30th Aug. 1937:—
W. G'ds.—
A. H. S. Coombe-Tennant.

London Gazette : 1 September 1942
https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/35685/supplement/3805/data.pdf
The undermentioned Lts. to be Capts.: —
30th Aug. 1942:—
W. G'ds.
A. H. S. Coombe-Tennant (65371).

London Gazette : 7 January 1943
https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/35853/page/209/data.pdf
The KING has been graciously pleased to approve the following awards in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in the field: —
The Military Cross.
Captain Augustus Henry Serocold Coombe-Tennant (65371). Welsh Guards.

London Gazette : 30 August 1945
https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/37244/supplement/4372/data.pdf
Foot Guards.
The KING has been graciously pleased to approve the following awards in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in the field: —
W. G'ds.
Maj. (temp.) A. H. S. COOMBE-TENNANT, M.C. (65371).

London Gazette : 29 August 1947
https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/38058/supplement/4085/data.pdf
W. G'ds.
Capt. A. H. S. COOMBE-TENNANT, M.C. (65371) to be Maj., 30th Aug. 1947.

London Gazette : 3 February 1956
https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/40700/supplement/681/data.pdf
FOOT GUARDS
W.G.
REGULAR ARMY.
Maj. A. H. S. COOMBE-TENNANT. M.C. (65371) retires on ret. pay, 1st Feb. 1956.

 

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C16701958
Reference: WO 416/76/44
Name: Henry Coombe-Tennant.
Date of Birth: 9/4/1913.
Place of Birth: Neath, Wales.
Service: British Army.
Rank: Captain.
Regiment/Unit/Squadron: Welsh Guards.
Service Number: [unspecified].
Date of Capture: 25 May 1940.
Theatre of Capture: Boulogne.
Camp Name/Number: Oflag VIIC Laufen.
PoW number: 506.
Date of Death: [unspecified].
Number of Photographs: 1.
Number of Fingerprints: 1.
Number of X-rays: 0.
Number of Cards: 2.

Name: Henry Coombe-Tennant . Date of Birth: 09/04/1913 . Place of Birth: Neath, Wales .... | The National Archives
Reference: WO 416/357/300
Name: Henry Coombe-Tennant.
Date of Birth: 09/04/1913.
Place of Birth: Neath, Wales.
Service: British Army.
Rank: Captain.
Regiment/Unit/Squadron: Welch Guards.
Service Number: [unspecified].
Date of Capture: 25/05/1940.
Theatre of Capture: Boulogne.
Camp Name/Number: Oflag VIIC Laufen.
PoW number: 506.
Date of Death: [unspecified].
Number of Photographs: 0.
Number of Fingerprints: 0.
Number of X-rays: 0.
Number of Cards: 1.

 

Captain A H S Coombe- Tennant (service number P/65371). Service: Army, WG [Welsh... | The National Archives
Reference: WO 208/3311/975
Description: Captain A H S Coombe- Tennant (service number P/65371).
Service: Army, WG [Welsh Guards].
Escape from Germany via Holland, Belgium and France to Spain.
Possible information on this individual (including appendices) may be present in WO 208/5582-5583.
Date: 1940-1945


n.b. The contents of this file will likely match the supporting paperwork in the WO 373 file in the post below.

 

Recommendation for Award for Coombe-Tennant, A H S Rank: Captain Service No:... | The National Archives
Reference: WO 373/62/333
Description:
Name Coombe-Tennant, A H S
Rank: Captain
Service No: P/65371
Regiment: 2 Welsh Guards
Theatre of Combat or Operation: Escape and Evasion and Special Operations
Award: Military Cross
Date of announcement in London Gazette: 07 January 1943
Date: 1942-1943

 

London Gazette : 30 August 1945
https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/37244/supplement/4372/data.pdf

 

See also:

• Operation Amsterdam
• 62578 Colonel Archibald Charles William NOEL, MC, 1 Welsh Guards: POW
• Extraordinary life of unknown Welsh hero finally told | Y Lolfa
• 

 

Soldier, spy and monk: the remarkable life of a Welsh soldier


In his Welsh Guard uniform - Henry joined the regiment that his older brother Christopher had served and died with during World War I (Image: Bernard Lewis)

Few people in the world, never mind Neath, have a life story as impressive and boast-worthy as former Welsh Guard Henry Coombe-Tennant.

Born in 1913 in Cadoxton, Neath, Henry was something of a James Bond of his time. After joining the Welsh Guards in 1939, he fought Nazis on the front line, escaped a prisoner of war camp and spied for MI16, and when all of this perhaps became a bit too much - he put down his rifle and became a practising monk.

Today, Henry is something of an unknown hero in Wales, but local author Bernard Lewis is working to bring him back into the public memory.
Bernard points out that Henry's mother, a reputed psychic medium, always knew that her son would go onto achieve great things, touting him as the "new Messiah" born to bring peace into a troubled world.

He said: "Henry's mother, Winifred Coombe Tennant, was a noted psychic medium and her work was studied by the London-based Society for Psychical Research for over 30 years. Winifred believed that her spirit world contacts would guide Henry to what she saw as his Messianic destiny. That never happened, of course, but Henry did lead a remarkable life."

An uncommon choice for a Neath local, Henry attended Eton College and went on to obtain a double first degree from Cambridge University before joining the Welsh Guards in 1936 - the same regiment that his older brother Christopher had served and died with during World War I.

Throughout World War II, Henry fought on the front lines of the Hook of Holland before being tasked with a monumental responsibility: ensuring the escape of the Dutch queen Wilhelmina.

Rescue of the Dutch queen
In a turn of event that sounds very much like a Hollywood blockbuster, Henry and his comrades kept open the road connecting the Hague where the Dutch government was based to the port at the Hook of Holland, allowing Queen Wilhelmina to roll up in a car to board a Royal Navy destroyer.

Safely aboard the destroyer, the Dutch queen found safe passage to Britain, but for Henry Coombe-Tennant, things took something of a dark turn.

Bernard said: "Queen Wilhelmina came to the Hook by car, boarded a Royal Navy destroyer and got her to Britain. Henry and his mates were brought back by a different destroyer. They had a short time in Britain but were then taken by ship to Boulogne, where he was captured."

Rather than being rewarded for his good deed, Henry found himself trapped in the cellar of a bombed-out house in Boulogne with his Welsh Guard comrades, and he was taken as a prisoner of war.

Two years after his capture, Henry took part in a huge 30-man escape from the prisoner of war camp.

After rescuing a queen, escaping a prisoner of war camp and parachuting yet again into another warzone - Henry retired from the Welsh Guards and joined MI6 at the Hauge and in Iraq.

Bernard said: "It wasn't easy work for Henry with MI6 and he later wrote that he underwent "physical and mental suffering" during 1959, which was likely linked to his dangerous work with MI6 in a violent Baghdad."

Bernard said: "Unusually, the escape was achieved by going over rather than under the prison camp wire. Only three of the escapes made it back to Great Britain – and Henry Coombe-Tennant was one of them."

This wasn't quite enough to put Henry off another military job, either.

Instead of putting down his rifle for a quieter life, he went onto join the Specials Operations Executive, and in 1944 he was parachuted into occupied France where he helped a Resistance group fight the Nazis - winning himself a military cross from the King and a Croix de Guerre from the French.

"He was not finished with soldiering, and served in Palestine during 1946-1948 where he tried to keep the peace between Arabs and Jews," added Bernard. "On a visit to Jordan, he became the first non-Arab to climb the Jebel Rum mountain. He then served with the occupying forces in West Germany and Austria”
fter his MI6 stint, enough became enough for Henry. Battered, bruised and mentally drained, he exchanged his military garb for monk robes - putting down his rifle in exchange for the bible.

Bernard said: "The experience turned him to religion and, on leaving MI6 at the start of the 1960s, he became a Benedictine monk at Downside Abbey near Bath. He died there in 1989."

On a final note, Bernard added: "Henry obviously never became the new Messiah as desired by his formidable mother. Nevertheless, he did lead a remarkable life that was full of excitement and danger.”

Bernard’s biography of Henry Coombe-Tennant – “Wales’ Unknown Hero: Soldier, Spy, Monk – The Life of Henry Coombe-Tennant, MC, Of Neath” is published by Y Lolfa and is priced at £12.99. More information is available on Bernard’s website .