I do not know much about John Birch, He was always known as Jan, but why remains a mystery. Jan came from Birmingham and served on HMS Gambia as an Able Seaman for the 1950 to 1952 commission.
Jan started emailing me with information for this website in 2004 and it was with regret that I learned from his son, John, that he passed way on November 26, 2018.
John "Jan" Birch in 1950-52
When he sent this to Bill Hartland for the original HMS Gambia website Jan wrote "You know that you are growing old when you are attending your granddaughters wedding!! Doris had taken off her jacket, I don't know why, it was only 104 deg F." The wedding took place on March 12, 2005.
Alan Clements, John "Jan" Birch, and Bill Hartland in Glenelg (near Adelaide, Australia) in 2009 at the Royal Marines Band Reunion. Alan served on HMS Gambia's 1950 to 1952 commission and helped Bill with the original website pages. Jan lives at Whyalla Jenkins. Picture from Bill Hartland
John's son, also named John, created a radio-controlled model of the ship in 2014 and in July 2020 sent Bill Hartland updated photos of the model who very kindly passed them on for inclusion in this website. The model recreates HMS Gambia as she appeared for the 1950/52 commission.
Radio-controlled model of HMS Gambia by John Birch