Flt Lt Ronald Boddison, served with the RAF at Padang in Burma after training other airmen in Canada as a bomb aimer.

But when he returned home he turned down his campaign medals, along with many soldiers, sailors and airmen who simply felt they had done what anyone would have.

This year his wife Betty, 85, was given the chance to receive the medals through the Soldiers', Sailors' and Airmen's Families' Association.

On Monday, she and her granddaughters Georgina and Megan Holden received them at the association's offices in Smith Street, Warwick.

Mrs Boddison recalls her husband turning down the decorations, saying "they gave medals out with the rations", but is glad to have had the opportunity to receive them for her family.

She said: "It's part of history. I'm very proud of what my father did in the First World War. It could be very important for young people to see them and know what their grandfather or great-grandfather did."

Mrs Boddison herself served with the fire service in Holly Walk during the war, and her father fought in Afghanistan and what is now Pakistan. She believes it is important for young people to learn about history to understand the world today.

Both her granddaughters are at Woodloes Primary School and Mrs Boddison is particularly pleased that Megan, eight, is taking an interest.

She added: "It will be part of their heritage."