Mr Arthur T. Aust, OBE (Telecommunications 1940)

Provided by Jack Aust (Electrical and Electronic Engineering 1971)

Arthur Aust who was invested with the OBE in 1978 for his services to military defence has died at the age of 89 years.

Born in Tiensin to a missionary family he spent the first five years of his life in northern China returning to school and a place at Rugby in 1930.

In 1935 he became a Youth in Training at the GPO Radio Station Rugby working on radio transmitters until he was granted a place at London University City and Guilds Engineering College obtaining a BSc Honours degree in Telecommunications.

In 1940 he was called up for duty at Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough where he joined the Radio Department Airborne radio communication section. He became a member of the team designing and building HF and VHF transmitter receivers for RAF fighters and bombers including the first 4-channel press button operated transceiver.

He married Mary Edith Lake in 1942 and they had two sons.

In 1945 he was seconded to the RAF serving in India developing homing systems for Thunderbolt fighters preparing to attack Rangoon and went on to design airborne and ground UHF radio equipment for RAF and RN post war systems, moving on to the design of Digital Data Link for ground control of fighter aircraft.

His next project was with SHAPE Air Defence at The Hague in Netherlands and was Project Leader for NATO ship to shore communications systems.

His first wife died in 1970 and subsequently married Sylvia Joy moving to London to join the Ptarmigan project at Project Manager, officially retiring in 1978 when he was awarded the OBE but worked for a while as Laboratory Technician at a Woking school.

Arthur was a devoted grandfather and great-grandfather, long-standing choir member of Hordle Church, a tireless supporter of the Mencap Gateway Club and kept his sense of humour through two long illnesses.