Korean War Service

Veteran Details

Name	BIRTHISELL, JOHN HARRY
Service	Royal Australian Navy
Service Number	38723
Date of Birth	22 Nov 1931
Place of Birth	Yarrawonga, VIC
Rank	Stoker
Branch	Stoker Mechanic
Days in Service	176
Prisoner of War	No

Unit History

Unit Name	Start Date	End Date

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Field	Description
Name	The individual's full name as recorded on the official record of service document. If the individual served under an alias, that information will also be displayed where known. Nicknames will not be displayed, as they are not recorded on the service record. If a woman married while enlisted, and the military authority amended the service record to her married surname, then that surname will be displayed. This approach has been taken so that the displayed surname aligns with the surname recorded on the paper service record. In such cases, a maiden name may not have been collected.
Service	Refers to one of the three services that form Australia's defence forces - Royal Australian Navy (RAN); Australian Army; Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Where an individual served in more than one branch of Australia's defence forces, each period of service will be displayed as a separate record. To view all records for an individual, select 'ALL' in the Service box.
Service Number	The number allocated to the individual on enlistment into one of the three branches of Australia's defence forces. Where an individual had more than one number during his period of service, the number relevant to service in Korea is displayed. Where an individual served in more than one branch of the armed forces, a record will be displayed for each period of service.
Date of Birth	The date recorded on the service record as the date of birth.
Place of Birth	The place recorded on the service record as the place of birth.
Dates of Service	The dates an individual was allotted for duty in Korea or commenced duty in the defined operational area of Korea through to the last date an individual served in the defined area of Korea.
Date of Death	Indicates the date of death while serving in the defined operational area or a later date of death attributed to that service and occurring during the period covered by the Nominal Roll.
Rank	The substantive rank (excludes brevet, honorary, acting or temporary) held by the individual on either their last day or date of death in the operational area.
Branch / Corps / Mustering	These are service specific terms that denote an individual's function or speciality within their chosen service. Traditionally the "Corps" system used by the Army is quite broad in the way it groups functions together when compared to the "Mustering" system used by the Royal Australian Air Force, with the "Branch" system used by the Royal Australian Navy falling somewhere in between.
Honours	Indicates any Imperial or Australian honours and awards conferred on an individual during the Korean War. Service or campaign medals are not recorded. Foreign honours and awards are also not recorded. The issuing of honours and awards and service and campaign medals is the responsibility of the Department of Defence.
Prisoners of War	Indicates whether the individual was a prisoner of war.