Editing Gough Whitlam (section)

==Military service==

[[File:EG Whitlam (AWM P04697-001).jpg|thumb|upright|left|alt=Whitlam in military uniform stands under a tree in front of a large tent. He holds a mug in his hand.|Gough Whitlam in [[Cooktown, Queensland]], in 1944]]

Soon after the outbreak of World War II in 1939, Whitlam enlisted in the [[Sydney University Regiment]], part of the [[Australian Army Reserve|Militia]].{{sfn|Hocking|2008|p=73}} In late 1941, following the Japanese [[attack on Pearl Harbor]], and with a year remaining in his legal studies, he volunteered for the [[Royal Australian Air Force]] (RAAF).{{sfn|Hocking|2008|p=80}} In 1942, while awaiting entry into the service, Whitlam met and married [[Margaret Whitlam|Margaret Elaine Dovey]], who had swum for Australia in the [[1938 British Empire Games]] and was the daughter of barrister and future New South Wales Supreme Court judge [[Bill Dovey]].{{sfn|Oakes|Solomon|1973|pp=48–49}}{{sfn|Mitchell|2014|pp=64–66}} He entered the RAAF on 20 June 1942.<ref name="WW2 nominal roll" />

Whitlam trained as a navigator and [[bomb aimer]], before serving with [[No. 13 Squadron RAAF]], based mainly on the [[Gove Peninsula]], Northern Territory, flying [[Lockheed Ventura]] bombers. He reached the rank of [[Flight Lieutenant]].{{sfn|Lloyd|2008|p=330}} While in the service, he began his political activities, distributing literature for the [[Australian Labor Party]] during the [[1943 Australian federal election|1943 federal election]] and urging the passage of the [[1944 Australian referendum|1944 "Fourteen Powers" referendum]], which would have expanded the powers of the federal government.<ref>Jenny Hocking, Gough Whitlam: A Moment in History MUP 2008</ref> Although the party was victorious, the referendum it advocated was defeated.{{sfn|Lloyd|2008|p=330}} In 1961, Whitlam said of the referendum defeat, "My hopes were dashed by the outcome and from that moment I determined to do all I could do to modernise the Australian Constitution."{{sfn|Oakes|Solomon|1973|p=53}} While still in uniform, Whitlam joined the ALP in Sydney in 1945.{{sfn|Lloyd|2008|p=330}} He was discharged from the RAAF on 17 October 1945, and continued to use Air Force log books to record all the flights he took until 2007.<ref name="WW2 nominal roll" /><ref>{{cite news |last1=Bramston |first1=Troy |title=It's time to view Gough Whitlam's life as an open book |url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/its-time-to-view-gough-whitlams-life-as-an-open-book/story-fn59niix-1227063364092 |access-date=25 October 2014 |work=The Australian |date=19 September 2014}}</ref> After the war, he obtained his Bachelor of Laws; he was admitted to the federal and New South Wales bars in 1947.{{sfn|Lloyd|2008|p=330}}