John Glozier, who worked in Oxford University’s Department of Human Anatomy workshop for 40 years, has died aged 90.

He joined the Royal Navy, aged 21 in 1939, serving on HMS Ambitious and the aircraft carrier HMS Argus, which was wrongly reported sunk three times.

He served in the Atlantic, Malta and Russian convoys, and recently received a Russian Star medal for the part he played in the Russian convoys.

Towards the end of the war, Mr Glozier was posted to the Department of Human Anatomy to work on seat positions of guns for use on ships in the Arctic. He worked as a junior technician and then became chief technician in the department workshop for a total of 40 years.

During this time, Mr Glozier worked under Prof LeGros Clarke, replicating the Piltdown skull, and thus proving it to be a fake.

Mr Glozier, who lived in Summertown, also designed and built a microtome for cutting sections fine enough for use under an electron microscope, and this went on show in the History of Science Museum in Broad Street.

In 1985, Mr Glozier received an honorary degree for 40 years’ service to the university.

He worked for more than 30 years as a university policeman and also led many Encaenia processions to the Sheldonian.

He appeared in an episode of Inspector Morse and the film Shadowlands.

Mr Glozier was a Freemason and was once worshipful master of his lodge.

For a time he owned a grocery shop in the Woodstock Road.

He was married to Lily for 67 years and leaves three daughters, seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.