Rhys Probert was born 28 May 1921, the son of the Reverend Thomas and Margaret Jane Probert. He was educated firstly at Jones' West Monmouth School

West Monmouth School

West Monmouth School is a state-funded and non-selective secondary school in Pontypool, Torfaen, south Wales.-Admissions:Pupils who attend the generally live in the Pontypool area...

, then at St Catharine's College, Cambridge

St Catharine's College, Cambridge

St. Catharine’s College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1473, the college is often referred to informally by the nickname "Catz".-History:...

. He died of pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer refers to a malignant neoplasm of the pancreas. The most common type of pancreatic cancer, accounting for 95% of these tumors is adenocarcinoma, which arises within the exocrine component of the pancreas. A minority arises from the islet cells and is classified as a...

 in 1980.

From 1942-1944, Rhys Probert worked at the Royal Aircraft Establishment

Royal Aircraft Establishment

The Royal Aircraft Establishment , was a British research establishment, known by several different names during its history, that eventually came under the aegis of the UK Ministry of Defence , before finally losing its identity in mergers with other institutions.The first site was at Farnborough...

. He moved to Power Jets

Power Jets

Power Jets Ltd was a United Kingdom company set up by Frank Whittle for the purpose of designing and manufacturing jet engines.-History:Founded on January 27, 1936, the company consisted of Whittle, Rolf Dudley-Williams, James Collingwood Tinling, and Lancelot Law Whyte of investment bankers O T...

 (Research and Development) Ltd in 1944, staying until 1946, when he spent a brief time at the Applied Physics Laboratory

Applied Physics Laboratory

The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory , located in Howard County, Maryland near Laurel and Columbia, is a not-for-profit, university-affiliated research center employing 4,500 people. APL is primarily a defense contractor. It serves as a technical resource for the Department of...

, Johns Hopkins University

Johns Hopkins University

The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...

, from 1946-1947. He joined the National Gas Turbine Establishment

National Gas Turbine Establishment

The National Gas Turbine Establishment in Fleet, part of the Royal Aircraft Establishment , UK was the prime site in the UK for design and development of gas turbine and jet engines. It was created by merging the design teams of Frank Whittle's Power Jets and the RAE turbine development team run...

 in 1947 and remained there until 1963 (as Deputy Director after 1957). Between 1963 and 1968 he worked as Director-General of Scientific Research/Air, Ministry of Aviation

Ministry of Aviation

Ministry of Aviation was a department of the United Kingdom government, established in 1959. Its responsibilities included the regulation of civil aviation and the supply of military aircraft, which it took on from the Ministry of Supply....

, then from 1968-1972 was Deputy Controller of Aircraft A, at the Ministry of Technology, later the Ministry of Defence

Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)

The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....

. Rhys Probert ended his career by returning to the Royal Aircraft Establishment, firstly as Director, from 1973, and then as President from 1979-1980.

Rhys Probert made notable contributions to many aircraft technologies, including ramjet

Ramjet

A ramjet, sometimes referred to as a stovepipe jet, or an athodyd, is a form of airbreathing jet engine using the engine's forward motion to compress incoming air, without a rotary compressor. Ramjets cannot produce thrust at zero airspeed and thus cannot move an aircraft from a standstill...

s, scramjet

Scramjet

A scramjet is a variant of a ramjet airbreathing jet engine in which combustion takes place in supersonic airflow...

s, vertical takeoff for Harrier Jump Jet

Harrier Jump Jet

The Harrier, informally referred to as the Jump Jet, is a family of British-designed military jet aircraft capable of vertical/short takeoff and landing operations...

s, and reheat (afterburners)

AfterBurner

The AfterBurner is a lighting solution for the Game Boy Advance system that was created by Triton-Labs.Originally, portablemonopoly.net was a website created to petition Nintendo to put some kind of light in their Game Boy Advance system...

.

In 1947 he married Carolyn Cleasby, of Lancaster, New Hampshire

Lancaster, New Hampshire

Lancaster is a town in Coos County, New Hampshire, USA, on the Connecticut River named after Lancaster, England. As of the 2010 census, the town population was 3,507, the second largest in the county after Berlin. It is the county seat of Coos County and gateway to the Great North Woods Region...

, USA; they had three sons and one daughter.

He was made a Companion of the Bath in 1972.

His papers are available at the Cambridge University Churchill Archive