Major General George William Symes, CB, MC & Bar (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.

[1] He entered the Royal Military College, Sandhurst and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Durham Light Infantry on 14 June 1915.

[5]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.

[10] His fellow students there included men such as John Nichols, William Gott, Miles Dempsey, George Hopkinson and Maurice Chilton.

[11] On completing the course he was posted to the Royal School of Artillery as a General Staff Officer (GSO) on 15 January 1933.

[16] 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.

As part of the 3rd Infantry Division, commanded by Major General James Gammell, it was a mobile reserve tasked with counter-attacking an invasion attempt.

[19] In August 1943, Major General Orde Wingate persuaded the leaders at the Quebec Conference to expand his Special Force, commonly known as the Chindits.

[24] Symes spoke with Slim's superior, General George Giffard, the commander of the 11th Army Group.

Giffard would not overrule Slim, but he did inform the Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS, the professional head of the British Army), Field Marshal Sir Alan Brooke, that Symes' supersession was due to the unique requirements of Chindit operations and not a reflection on his ability as a commander.

His period in command in Burma included the final Japanese surrender, and the early push for Burmese independence.

[25] For his wartime services in India and Burma, Symes was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath on 17 January 1946,[27] and was mentioned in despatches on 19 September 1946.

[28] 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.

[3] Symes died in St Andrew's Presbyterian Hospital in Adelaide on 26 August 1980, and was buried in Centennial Park Cemetery.

A memorial to George and Katherine Symes was dedicated in the chapel of the York and Lancaster Regiment in Sheffield Cathedral in 1982.