Originally Posted by
MrBernoulli
The UK National Archives reference (found in the link in Stuart Sutcliffe's post) clearly states it is a "Discharge number: R280391". It would be nice to know what the "60104" number really is. .
It's the reference to the file number of the medal papers that were raised for the recipient, which included details of the seaman’s service. I believe these are/were held by the Registry of Shipping and Seamen.
Discharge number is the equivalent of service number