Paul McDonald obituary

My friend Paul McDonald, who has died aged 74, was a physicist and expert in cryogenics whose work advanced a variety of technologies, including satellite tracking, superconducting magnets and cryostat thermometers. He was also a keen supporter of Cruisewatch, the protest group that tracked cruise missile convoys at Greenham Common, Berkshire, in the 1980s.

Born in Salford, Paul was the eldest son of Frank McDonald, a PoW survivor of the Burma Railway, and Elsie (nee Rosser), who had nursed Frank back to life in the Tropical Medicine hospital, Liverpool.