• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Naval Historical Society of Australia

Preserving Australia's Naval History

  • Events
  • Account
  • Members Area
  • Volunteer
  • Donate
  • Contact us
  • Show Search
  • 0 items
Hide Search
Menu
  • Home
  • Research
    • Where to start
      • Research – We can help!
      • Self help
      • Naval Service Records
      • Library
      • Related Maritime websites
    • Resources
      • Articles
      • Videos
      • On This Day
      • Podcasts
      • Australian Military Ship Losses
      • RAN events on a  Google Earth Map
      • RAN Vessels – Where are they now?
      • Related Maritime websites
    • Other
      • Newsletters: Call The Hands
      • Occasional Papers and Historical Booklets
      • Books
      • HMAS Shropshire
      • Book reviews
    • Close
  • Naval Heritage Sites
    • World Heritage Listings
      • Cockatoo Island
    • National Heritage Listings
      • HMAS Sydney II and the HSK Kormoran Shipwreck Sites
      • HMVS Cerberus
    • Commonwealth Heritage Listings
      • Garden Island NSW
      • HMAS Watson
      • HMAS Penguin
      • Spectacle Island Explosives Complex NSW
      • Chowder Bay Naval Facilities
      • Beecroft Peninsula NSW
      • Admiralty House, Garden and Fortifications
      • HMAS Cerberus
      • Naval Offices QLD
      • Garden Island WA
      • Royal Australian Naval College ACT
      • Royal Australian Naval Transmitting Station ACT
    • NSW Heritage Listings
      • HMAS Rushcutter
    • Close
  • Naval Art
  • Tours & Cruises
    • Navy in Sydney Harbour Cruise, East
    • Navy in Sydney Harbour Cruise, West
    • Anniversary Cruise: Sydney under Japanese Attack
    • Tour Bookings
    • Close
  • About us
    • About Us
      • What we do
      • Our People
      • Office Bearers
      • Become a volunteer
      • Our Goals and Strategy
    • Organisation
      • Victoria Chapter
      • WA Chapter
      • ACT Chapter
    • Close
  • Membership
  • Shop
  • Become a volunteer
  • Donate
You are here: Home / Article topics / Publications / Naval Historical Review / Obituary: Rear Admiral W. J. Dovers, CBE, DSC (RAN, Ret’d)

Obituary: Rear Admiral W. J. Dovers, CBE, DSC (RAN, Ret’d)

Howland, Tony · Dec 4, 2007 · Print This Page

Author
Howland, Tony
Subjects
Biographies and personal histories, Obituaries
Tags
None noted.
RAN Ships
None noted.
Publication
December 2007 edition of the Naval Historical Review (all rights reserved)

He returned to sea as the Flag Officer Commanding HMA Fleet between April 1971 and December 1972. After a brief six months back in Navy Office as Deputy Chief of Naval Staff, he returned to HMAS Kuttabul for his final posting in the RAN as Flag Officer in Charge, East Australian Area. He retired from the RAN in February, 1975.

Upon his retirement, he was appointed Chief Project Officer for the Australian Defence Force Academy, responsible initially for arguing, and winning, the case for the Academy, and then for planning its physical shape and supervising the academic criteria. He was replaced in this role by Admiral Peter Sinclair when construction began almost eight years later.

After ADFA, Admiral Dovers undertook several charity activities, including a year as the Chairman of the Canberra Red Shield Appeal, and continued his golf. Unfortunately, towards the end of last decade his wife, Ray, contracted Alzheimer’s disease, and the Admiral committed himself full time to her care. He regards this work as his greatest achievement. Mrs Dovers died on 11 December, 2005.

Admiral Dovers is survived by his daughter, Sandra, and son, ‘Young Bill’, who, like his father, rose to the rank of Rear Admiral in the RAN.

Many of us will have memories of Bill Dovers, some of which will be pleasant, some, if we performed at less than the highest standard, perhaps less so. Our respect for him as a senior officer in our service may well preclude our open expression of those memories. But I have found no better or more apt description of Bill Dovers than the words written about him by Evan  Williams in a  profile he wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald in July, 1968:

‘Jolly as a hornpipe, hearty as an old sea shanty, Bill Dovers walks with a swaggering gait that suggest something of the boundless self-confidence, the ‘outstanding courage, skill and endurance’ that won him the DSC in the South-West Pacific towards the end of World War II. ‘He’s a down-to-earth, bluff, no-nonsense sort of chap,’ says an officer who knows him well. ‘But he has some of that old world gallantry of the gentleman officer. Never forgets to ask how your wife is. But humanitarian, too. Demands the highest standards, and makes sure he gets them.’
Vale Bill Dovers

Pages: Page 1 Page 2

Naval Historical Review, Biographies and personal histories, Obituaries

Primary Sidebar

SUBSCRIBE

Sign up for our monthly e-newsletter.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Categories

Latest Podcasts

  • The Fall of Singapore
  • HMAS Armidale
  • Napoleon, the Royal Navy and Me
  • The Case of the Unknown Sailor
  • Night of the midget subs — Sydney under attack

Links to other podcasts

Australian Naval History Podcasts
This podcast series examines Australia’s Naval history, featuring a variety of naval history experts from the Naval Studies Group and elsewhere.
Produced by the Naval Studies Group in conjunction with the Submarine Institute of Australia, the Australian Naval Institute, Naval Historical Society and the RAN Seapower Centre

Life on the Line Podcasts
Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories.
These recordings can be accessed through Apple iTunes or for Android users, Stitcher.

Video Links

  • Australian War Memorial YouTube channel
  • Royal Australian Navy YouTube Channel
  • Research – We can help!
  • Naval Heritage Sites
  • Explore Naval Art
  • Dockyard Heritage Tour
  • About us
  • Shop
  • Events
  • Members Area
  • Volunteer
  • Donate
  • Contact us

Follow us

  • Facebook
  • YouTube
  • Members Area
  • Privacy Policy

Naval Historical Society of Australia Inc. Copyright © 2025