William Bostock - Later Life

Later Life

Bostock and Jones represented the RAAF at the Japanese surrender aboard USS Missouri on 2 September 1945. RAAF Command was disbanded the same day. Bostock was one of a number of senior Air Force commanders summarily retired early in 1946, in his case six years before the compulsory retirement age of 60. Among the reasons for Bostock's dismissal were, according to private government papers, an "inability to work in harmony with certain other high ranking RAAF officers", and "lack of balance and appreciation of responsibility". He appealed the decision, citing a letter from MacArthur that described him as "one of the world's most successful airmen ... superior in every respect", but was unsuccessful. Newspapers raised questions about Bostock's departure, The Herald in Melbourne speculating on the part played by rivalries within the service.

After his retirement from the military, Bostock went into journalism and become an aviation correspondent for The Herald. He wrote a series of articles criticising the Air Force's organisation and presenting his side of the story of RAAF Command, motivated partly by his belief that the official history of Australia in World War II would fail to adequately cover it. The articles caused considerable controversy and prompted the Minister for Air, Arthur Drakeford, to make a formal response in Federal Parliament, labelling Bostock's allegations "malicious and unjustified".

Bostock was decorated twice in 1948 for his war service, in March with the Distinguished Service Order "in recognition of distinguished services whilst in command of air operations in the Borneo Campaign during the period March to September, 1945", and in April with the American Medal of Freedom with Silver Palm. He entered politics in 1949, standing as a Liberal Party candidate for the Federal Division of Indi in Victoria. Elected to the House of Representatives, he retained his seat until being defeated in the 1958 poll. Bostock served on a joint committee for foreign affairs and sometimes came into conflict with his own party on matters of defence policy. He continued to contribute to The Herald while in government. During parliamentary debates in 1951 and again in 1957, Bostock spoke for "an integrated defence force with a single minister", advocating amalgamation of the four separate Departments of Defence, Air, Navy and Army into one Department of Defence, headed by the Minister for Defence. He further proposed that a single Commander-in-Chief lead the Army, Navy and Air Force; the Chief of the General Staff, the Chief of the Naval Staff, and the Chief of the Air Staff would report directly to the new position. In 1973 the single-service departments were abolished in favour of an all-encompassing Department of Defence, and by 1984 a Chief of the Defence Force position had evolved to directly command all three armed services through their respective chiefs.

Bostock's wife Gwendolen died in 1947, and he married 33-year-old Nanette O'Keefe in Melbourne on 1 June 1951; they had three sons. He owned a property near Benalla, in rural Victoria, where he died in 1968. Survived by his second wife and his five children, Bostock was accorded an Air Force funeral and cremated.