RELATIVES of a soldier shot down by an enemy missile 65 years ago were "overwhelmed" to receive a medal in his honour.

Pat Arthy remembered the day big brother Rfn Brian Mulligan, who was bestowed with the Elizabeth Cross yesterday, leant against their sitting room door before leaving for South Korea and promised to bring her back a china doll.

But the 22-year-old Army serviceman, who flew to fight in the Korean War in 1950, never returned home.

At a ceremony held especially for Mr Mulligan near Bicester yesterday, Mrs Arthy said: "I'm amazed, slightly overwhelmed. It's extraordinarily generous to go to all this trouble for one family. The care and the kindness the Army have put into this is absolutely phenomenal."

The 72-year-old, who lives in Great Haseley, was joined by her children, fellow servicemen from Mr Mulligan's regiment the Royal Ulster Rifles and the Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire, to collect his Elizabeth Cross at Bicester Garrison in Ambrosden.

The medal commemorates British Armed Forces families who lost a loved one in battle or in an act of terrorism.

Mrs Arthy said in the past year she learnt about her beloved brother's fate, which led her to "howl" with emotion.

He had lain dead for five days in a field, before being found with a missile wound in his head.

Mrs Arthy added: "I'm glad my parents didn't know the intimate details. It would have wiped them out.

"We received a letter in 1951 saying he was missing in action, but didn't get confirmation of his death until 1955. Until then there was that possibility he was alive. My parents were late Victorians and no fuss was ever made."

She first heard his fate aged eight at a school assembly near their Lancashire home, when her teacher prayed aloud for "Patricia's dead brother".

She said her older sister Eileen Cutland remembered him as a "caring and protective older brother" who signed up for the forces because he "was desperate to see the world".

Brigadier Pwc Kimber OBE said: "When any serviceman dies it's tragic, but there is particular burden when they die in operations. It's only fitting for that sacrifice is commemorated."

Mr Mulligan's body lies in the United Nations cemetery in the Republic of Korea.