Posted on 12/27/2021 10:45:15 AM PST by nickcarraway
Henry Coombe-Tennant went from fighting Nazis on the front line to monkhood - rescuing a queen and escaping prison in between
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.
You can read more Welsh nostalgia stories here.
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."
A young Henry at Eton College, quite far from his small Neath village (Image: Bernard Lewis) 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.
The Prison Break style escape
Ladders and duckboards were used the get the escapers over the wire fences at Warburg prisoner of war camp in 1942 (Image: © SWNS.com)
Two years after his capture, Henry took part in a huge 30-man escape from the prisoner of war camp.
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”
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."
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) After 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.
Ping
Fascinating story, thanks!
The writer Bernard Lewis from this article doesn’t seem to be the same as the Bernard Lewis who wrote many books about the Middle East.
Very interesting story.
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