AN RAF war hero from Chaddesley Corbett has been presented with a medal for taking part in what Winston Churchill reportedly described as “the worst job in the world”.

Eric Carter, 92, was awarded the Arctic Star medal by Prime Minister David Cameron at Number 10 Downing Street during a reception for veterans involved in the Arctic convoys during the Second World War.

They took supplies to the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1945 and more than 3,000 men died. Mr Carter was part of a top-secret mission to protect the port of Murmansk, north-west Russia, in 1941 and travelled to the frozen outpost on one of the first convoys.

He said: “I am very proud to receive the medal for the sake of all my pals who died. They are more entitled to it than me. It is important they are now recognised and it is nice to have something I will be able to pass on to my children.”

Presenting the medals, Mr Cameron said: “I can’t think of a group of people I’m more proud to have at Number 10 or an event I’m more proud to hold, than having all of you here today.

“I’m only sorry it’s taken 70 years to get you here and to say thank you for what you did.”

Mr Carter was one of just four ex-RAF personnel receiving the medal as most of the recipients came from the Royal Navy, which operated the convoys.

Accompanied by his son Andy, he was invited to lunch at Number 10 before the presentation ceremony. Later that day, Mr Cameron joined the veterans for a tour of HMS Belfast, which recently celebrated the 75th anniversary of its launch.

Mr Carter, a former Hurricane pilot, featured in The Shuttle last year after he was refused permission to sit in a model of the plane at a Stoke-on-Trent museum for “health and safety reasons”.

In 1940, he trained to be a fighter pilot at an aerodrome in Stoke. He received a special commemorative medal from the Russian Embassy in 2010 for the role he played in the Murmansk mission.