carried out raids to destroy Japanese bases and aircraft, and divert enemy forces from Allied columns. Through March and April 1944, Cole had thirteen squadrons under his control, and was supporting amphibious operations against Hollandia and Aitape. In May, he directed bombing from North-Western Area on Surabaya as part of Operation Transom. Cole handed over North-Western Area to Air Commodore Alan Charlesworth in September 1944. He took up an appointment as Air Member for Personnel (AMP) in October, but was removed soon afterwards following an incident at RAAF Headquarters, Melbourne. The Chief of the Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal George Jones, received an anonymous letter alleging that Cole had become drunk and lost control at a mess meeting on 8 November. Investigating the matter, Jones was unable to establish whether or not Cole had been drunk but was satisfied that he had not behaved appropriately, and issued him a warning without charging or otherwise disciplining him. Under pressure from the Federal government, Jones dismissed Cole from the position of AMP and posted him to Ceylon in January 1945 as RAAF Liaison Officer to South East Asia Command. Cole served in this role until the end of the war, taking part in negotiations for the Japanese capitulation and acting as Australia's senior representative at the formal surrender ceremony in Singapore on 12 September 1945. Retirement and legacy Cole was summarily retired from the RAAF in 1946, along with several other senior commanders and veterans of World War I, primarily to make way for the advancement of younger and equally capable officers. In an earlier minute to the Minister for Air, Arthur Drakeford, regarding post-war command prospects, Air Vice Marshal Jones had assessed Cole as having failed to display "certain of those qualities expected to be possessed by senior officers of such rank". In any case, his role overseas was redundant. Cole, for his part, later wrote to the Melbourne Herald that he considered the RAAF's administration during World War II to be "weak", and that as a consequence he felt "a lot happier to serve most of the War with the Royal Air Force". Ranked substantive air commodore and honorary air vice marshal, Cole was officially discharged from the RAAF on 17 April 1946. He resented being forcibly retired, and stood for election as the Liberal Party candidate for Drakeford's seat, the Victorian Division of Maribyrnong, in the federal election that