private Patrick Benjamin Whitington in Korean War

[garstonite]

Way beyond me this one ...my brothers wife would like to know about her uncle ..she has photos of him and this is all she knows - he fought in the Korean War ...she THINKS he was born 9th August 1937
any advice welcome - thanks
allan:confused:
added..born .sept qtr 1937 on freebmd - so the year is right ...

[kiterunner]

What's she trying to find out, Allan? And can you confirm that he is no longer alive, please?

[garstonite]

no longer alive - her dad is around 90 and still alive ,,,he says he doesn`t remember Patrick being in the army...a little odd as he was his brother ??...but she says she has a photo of him in uniform ...she thinks her dad may be confused ..just wants confirmation he was in the army and served in Korea - and if there are any details - what years ??...so she can inform her dad
thanks very much ....my brother e-mailed me last night to see if I could find anything - he says it`s not that important if I don`t find anything - but it seems to me that it is important to his wife ...
cheers
allan

[kiterunner]

Post-WW1 military records aren't available online for privacy reasons, so your best bet would be to ask his widow / children (if he had any) if they know anything, or for his next of kin to apply to the M o D for his records. There is some information about how to apply on here:
http://www.veterans-uk.info/service_records/army.html

I had a look at the London Gazette to see if he was listed in there (for instance, if he was awarded a medal) but found nothing.

[kiterunner]

Wait, if he was born in 1937 he would have been too young to fight in the Korean war, wouldn't he?

[garstonite]

I thought that -
just checked ...Korean War ended july 1953 - so Patrick would only be 15 ...
maybe Sister in laws father IS right ...and he was n`t in the army in Korea ...looks like it to me
I will contact my brother with this info
cheers Kiterunner ...lets put this on hold til I get more info - will post tomorrow
thanks again
allan

[maggie_4_7]

He would have done National Service though, I believe the last men conscripted into National Service was 1960 and they would have been discharged in 1963.

It became National service in 1948 so as soon as he was eligible he would have been conscripted.

Thats probably where the photo originates.

Its quite complicated he could have served overseas though at some point.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscription_in_the_United_Kingdom

Edited: just seen Shona's post there were other flash points happening that the Britsh were involved in one of them being Malaya which is the most likely given the timescales.

[Shona]

Could he have been involved in Malaysia? Perhaps the family got Korea and Malaysia mixed up?

[Uncle John]

Or Suez or Cyprus, thinking of people at school who had parents in the forces at the time (mid-50s).

[Olde Crone]

I am reasonably sure that two of my uncles did Natioinal Service in Aden in the late 50s.

OC

[garstonite]

Evidently only The Paras went into Suez in 1955 - and their Number starts 22....ie 22834167 ..so she is going to try and get his service number ...will keep you informed - but my brother has replied and said " he was a fibber , he didn`t serve in Korea...so Aden is looking the most likely..
cheers
allan

[Uncle John]

Or Aden!

[garstonite]

thank you all - we are no further sadly ....we presume he did National Service - we are sure he never went to Korea or Suez ...Aden is looking favourite - but we cant even find out what regiment he was in ? or if he did indeed go abroad with the Army ...
looks like we will never know ??