Air Commodore Henry Probert

Feb 18 2008 Liverpool Daily Post

HIS most famous work included a slightly more sympathetic – although nonetheless critical – retrospect on World War II, Bomber Command, Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur “Bomber” Harris.

The biography, the first in post-war Britain to have unlimited access to Harris’s private papers, has been credited as Air Commodore Henry Probert’s finest work, among a resumé of detailed and highly respected books on military history, conflict and development.

Probert, who has died, aged 81, had a distinguished career of more than 30 years in the RAF, with postings in Northern Ireland, West Germany and Singapore.

Born in Cheadle, Cheshire, in 1926, Probert read modern history at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, before doing his national service with the RAF.

Electing to stay on after his service, he worked through a variety of roles before becoming Director of Education in 1976. Having been too young to enrol at the outbreak of war in 1939, he did recall vivid memories of the conflict in memoirs and publications.

After his retirement in 1978, he was asked to become head of the Air Historical Branch in the MoD. There, one of his most notable tasks was helping with the RAF’s in-house history of the force’s role in the 1982 Falklands conflict with Argentina.

His other works, regularly credited by authors and researchers, include High Commanders of the Royal Air Force (1991); The Forgotten Air Force (1995); and The Rock and the RAF (2005) – the latter being an account of the RAF’s association with Gibraltar.

For his biography on Harris, he was awarded the Air League Gold Medal. His analysis and commentary on the tactics used by Harris concurred with German and Allied airmen and strategists who said that the large-scale loss of life was a needless destruction which did not significantly stop Germany’s capacity to wage war.

Probert was also a keen rower from his days at Cambridge, and coached RAF crews, becoming president of the RAF Rowing Association. He is survived by his wife, Audrey, whom he married in 1955, and their son and daughter.

Air Commodore Henry Probert, MBE, RAF education officer and air historian; born December 23, 1926, died December 25, 2007