A POLISH war veteran who lives in Kidderminster is celebrating being one of very few outside his home nation to be awarded a top honour - the equivalent of the British CBE.

Josef Malek, of Waverley Close, was decorated with the Gold Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland in a ceremony in Kidderminster on Friday. Consul General Tomasz Trafas presents Josef Malek with the Gold Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland.

He was given the award in recognition of his services to Poland - which include a six year stint in the Polish Navy, working alongside British forces escorting sea-borne aid to Russia in the Murmansk run.

This was a dangerous exercise which claimed an "incredibly high" number of ships and lives.

Tomasz Trafas, Consul General in London of the Republic of Poland, made a special journey to Kidderminster to make the award - and declared fulfiling the task to be "a great honour".

Mr Malek, 78, was born in Gdansk and was a gunner in the Polish Navy from 1939 to 1945.

He was given the Gold Cross at the Consulate of the Republic of Poland for the West Midlands - the Kidderminster home of the Polish Consul for the region and Wyre Forest District Council leader Mike Oborski.

Mr Oborski said: "Joe is an extremely popular and highly-respected member of the Polish community in Kidderminster."

Mr Malek, who settled in England and worked in engineering after the war until his retirement, met his wife Jean when she was a Wren based at Portsmouth during the war. The couple, who have three sons, have been married for more than 50 years.

He is one of about 20,000 Poles in the West Midlands region and 200,000 in Britain.

Mr Oborski's wife and fellow district councillor Fran told the Shuttle/Times & News after the ceremony: "Murmansk was a port above the Arctic Circle and from 1942 to 1945 the British ran supply convoys through.

"It was pretty nasty - the weather conditions were appalling and the convoys were under constant attack from German ships and aircraft.

"It was the most consistently dangerous exercise in the Second World War - losses of lives and ships were incredibly high."

And Mr Oborski added: "The importance of the investiture is highlighted by the fact that our Consul General in London insisted on travelling personally to Kidderminster to make the award."