Leslie John Audus (1911-2011) studied Natural Sciences (Botany) at Downing College from 1929. During the Second World War, he served in the RAF volunteer reserve and was stationed in Malaya and Singapore. He spent his off-duty time on field trips into the Malayan jungle in pursuit of varieties of grasses, recording his finds in detailed botanical studies which survived his captivity as a prisoner of war from 1942 to 1945.

Just before the Fall of Singapore in February 1942, Fl. Lt. Audus and his elite radar installation unit were evacuated to Java in an attempt to get them back to Britain but they were taken prisoners of war in March 1942. Audus survived more than three years' captivity in various camps across the Dutch East Indies. During this time, he used his biological knowledge working with PoW medical officers to save the lives and sight of many fellow captives by making yeast from limited resources to help protect them against serious illnesses caused by vitamin deficiencies.

After the war, following his release from captivity, Leslie Audus resumed his academic career in botany at the University of Wales, Cardiff. A few years later he was appointed Chair of Botany at the University of London. He died on 5 May 2011.