Background
Henry Austin Probert was born on 23 December 1926 in Cheadle, Cheshire.
Henry Austin Probert was born on 23 December 1926 in Cheadle, Cheshire.
Sidney Sussex College.
He read modern history at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, before joining the Royal Air Force, initially as his national service. He was granted a temporary commission as a pilot officer in the Education Branch on 4 November 1948. As a senior officer he worked at the Air Ministry, at the Headquarters of Bomber Command and at the Royal Air Force Staff College at Bracknell.
His last Service appointment was as Director of Education in 1976.
After retiring from the Air Force, Probert served as Head of the Air Historical Branch from 1978 to 1989. Both during and after his Royal Air Force career, Probert wrote several books concerning Royal Air Force history, most notably Bomber Harris: His Life and Times which was published in 2001.