George Stewart Symes



As a young soldier, George Symes actually saw action in Aden as part of the Indian Army. For operations in the Aden hinterland in 1903 to protect an Anglo-Turkish boundary commission from dissident tribesmen, Symes received the DSO (1904), and was mentioned in dispatches. He went on to serve in the Middle East for most of his military career. This meant that he was thought suited to being appointed resident and commander-in-chief at Aden in 1928. In the three years of his tenure of his office, he promoted reorganization of the services, educational, medical, and economic; and perhaps more importantly, he persuaded the tribal chiefs in the hinterland to co-operate mutually for the defence and better administration of the territory.

He wrote Tour of Duty which detailed his military career as well as time as a colonial administrator


Aden | Aden Administrators


Armed Forces | Art and Culture | Articles | Biographies | Colonies | Discussion | Glossary | Home | Library | Links | Map Room | Sources and Media | Science and Technology | Search | Student Zone | Timelines | TV & Film | Wargames


by Stephen Luscombe