Birdsall toured briefly in Vietnam during the Vietnam War, as a correspondent for an Australian magazine. He flew several airborne missions including one in the A-1 Skyraider, about which he later wrote an illustrated history.
It was Birdsall who tracked down and confirmed the existence of 91st Bomb Group combat veteran B-17G Shoo Shoo Baby in the late 1960s, sitting dormant at Creil Air Base, Creil, France.
He should not be confused with American travel writer Stephen S. Birdsall.
↑Burnett, Paul C., Editor, "From the Editor's Desk...", The Ragged Irregular, 91st Bombardment Group (H) Newsletter, Auburn, Alabama, April 1969, Volume 2, Number 3, page 9.