Paul Wiliam Abeles was born in the town of Mistelbach, near Vienna. His father was a timber merchant and member of the executive committee of the Israelitsche Kultusgemeinde. Abeles graduated from the Technische Hochschule in Vienna in 1915 and received his certification in engineering in 1921. During World War I he served in the Austro-Hungarian army. After the war he was employed as an engineer with a local building authority in Westphalia. He then went on to achieve his degree in Design Engineering. Abeles became a specialist in concrete engineering. He was appointed Chief Engineer of a major engineering company in Vienna from1922 to 1929. He then became a consulting engineer specializing in reinforced concrete and industrial design in various Central European countries. Ableles moved to the United Kingdom in 1939. There he continued his work on concrete engineering.