There is nobody suitable in 1911 census. And I cannot find any mention in newspapers. Combes or Coombes are not common in Kerry. The "Farranfore" comes from missing list in Irish Times, and Farranfore is a village half way between Killarney and Tralee. Eventually his compensation claim led me to the right man.
My feeling is that he was a spy put in , probably, by Thomson, given that the British were prepared to do the "swap" in 1920 for an IRA man.
It is difficult to say if the man at the bottom of the page is correct, but he is "D W Coombes" and is the only one I can get in Births and marriages over the likely period. The Kerry papers referenced below may give a further lead
1921 Jul 7. Went missing, most sources give Jul 7 at Ballybrack train station
WS 862 Killarney Battalion ....the date of their capture, however,was the 29th of June and the Truce coming so soon after, their lives were saved. - A short while before this incident Frank Morgan had informed Michael J. O'Sullivan of a Major Coombes whom he suspected of being a British I.O. O'Sullivan decided to take Coombes, as Morgan was so persistent in the matter. Actually, Coombes stopped in the same digs in Killarney as Frank Morgan. In due course, Coombes was taken off the train at Ballybrack Station and conveyed to an unknown destination. While a prisoner, his one desire was for plenty of whiskey. He was still a prisoner at the time of the Truce and immediately that took place the British negotiated for an exchange. There was a badly wounded Volunteer named Jack Shanahan in the hands of the enemy. He had been shot through the stomach trying to escape from Charlie Daly's house, and were it not for his medical skill in rendering first aid to himself - he was a chemist by profession - he would have died of his wounds before a doctor might have been brought to him by his captors. He was exchanged for Coombes, an indication of the latter's importance to the British
From Hansard. Lands Officer Coombes. Taken from train at Ballybrack on the morning of the 7th July, 1921. Information received subsequently is to the effect that this soldier is still alive. His wife was present when he was kidnapped.
1921 Jul 11 The Truce
1921 Aug 22 On Missing List in Irish Times
Kerry Library has in its TADHG KENNEDY COLLECTION [donated by Mrs Tadhg Kennedy, Ardfert, Co. Kerry, Jan 1956] - CD 280/3/5 Two manuscript notes, undated, from O/C Kerry No. 1 Brigade to Brigade I/O re release of ‘Coombes
1884 Mar 11 Born Plymouth as David Pash Warrener. Father David Warrener Mother Annie Maria Pash Warrener (christening record) . This is, I think , a fiction. There is no marriage of a Pash to a Warrener
1885 his mother married William Alfred Coombes - this is a real marriage
1906 Apr 14 married Catherine Mary Dring Blackbourn in London
1915 Nov 10 enlisted Kings Royal Rifle Corps
1917 Mar 16 discharged sickness
1926 Jan 12 died
