 Returning to Australia in June 1971 , <unk> took <unk> leave before retiring from the Air Force on 3 August . He made his home in Melbourne , where he died aged 62 on 23 December 1976 , after a lengthy battle with cancer . <unk> by his children and his second wife , he was given a private funeral and <unk> at <unk> <unk> . 
