Henry Probert

Who was Henry Probert?

Air Commodore Henry Austin Probert MBE RAF was a Royal Air Force education officer and air force historian.

Henry Austin Probert was born on 23 December 1926 in Cheadle, Cheshire. He read modern history at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, before joining the RAF, 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 RAF 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 RAF career, Probert wrote several books concerning RAF history, most notably Bomber Harris: His Life and Times which was published in 2001.