Paul was born on 10 December 1922 in Cardiff, Wales to Latvia born father Harry, a pawnbroker, and Lancashire born mother Esta nee Zeitlin and he had a younger sister Ruth. Paul attended Cardiff High School and then went on to study accountancy. In the 1939 Register the family were listed as living at 42 Constellation Road, Cardiff and Paul was working as an articled chartered accountant.

Paul enlisted in November 1941 and after training at Sandhurst he was posted initially to Africa and then to Italy. He was a tank commander in the Battle of Rimini where his tank was hit and he was killed instantly.