Lieutenant Symonds was a British officer stationed in Afghanistan in 1842 during the First Afghan War.
When he met Ian Chesterton, pretending to be a captain, and Barbara Wright, pretending to be Ian's wife, Symonds was suspicious of them. He believed Ian was a Russian spy.
Ian and Symonds were separately captured by Gul Zaheer and imprisoned. The next time they met, they were brought by Zaheer's men to a room with a pit. Ian confessed to Symonds that he wasn't really a captain, but he was British. When Zaheer ordered them to fight a tug of war to draw the other into the pit, both men refused. However, Zaheer threatened Symonds with torture, and in his fear he began to pull Ian towards the pit.
Symonds recovered from his madness, and both men refused to fight. Zaheer shoved Symonds into the pit, killing him. (PROSE: Mire and Clay)