Three generations of a Craven family were given star treatment when they travelled to Australia to honour a war hero.

Jane McLeish's great uncle, Robert Beatham, was killed fighting on the Western Front in 1918 and was awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously.

Now the medal is on display in a Brisbane museum.

Mrs McLeish, from Grassington, travelled to Australia with her daughter Esther and grandaughter Matilda, eight, for the exhibition opening and took part in the memorial day parade.

She said: "There was a lot of media interest. It went out across several television channels. We were all a bit overwhelmed.

"It was a little bit strange, but it felt very nice to be so welcomed by everybody; they were so kind.

"It was good to see how much respect and regard they have for their war heroes."

Robert Beatham fought for Australia in World War One, having emigrated from Cumbria in 1913.

He joined the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (Anzacs) and received the Victoria Cross for conspicuous bravery during the Battle of Amiens in France on August 9 1918.

During an engagement with German troops east of Amiens, Private Beatham, according to his VC citation, "dashed forward, and, assisted by one man, bombed and fought the crews of four enemy machine guns, killing ten of them and capturing ten others".

Although wounded, he ran forward a second time and died "riddled with bullets".

King George V presented Robert's mother with the medal in 1919 and Mrs McLeish said it was passed down through the family, before eventually being sold to a private collector, which she regrets.

"It should have stayed in the family," she said. "They were proud to fight as Anzacs, so we are happy it is where it is at present - but it should have remained in the family."

The current owner, Australian businessman Neil Jenman, bought the medal at auction in 1999 for a then-record £98,000.

Earlier this year, Mr Jenman lent it to Queensland Museum in Brisbane for inclusion in the exhibition, The Courage of Ordinary Men: Three Stories of the Victoria Cross.

Mrs McLeish discovered that the medal was to be exhibited at the museum in Brisbane and contacted them.

To her surprise, they invited her and her family over to Australia to see it.

"It's a very big honour to have our family history displayed there," she said.

"We were on Australian TV; we were quite famous. We weren't expecting that at all.

"All the photographers were there, and they were very interested in Matilda because of the name's association with Australia - she stole the limelight. She thought it was great. "Now she understands more about where she came from. She's participating in her family history."

As well as the exhibition opening, the family attended an ex-serviceman's dinner and Brisbane's Anzac Day parade, at which 60,000 people lined the streets to pay tribute to Australian and New Zealand soldiers past and present.

Following the posthumous presentation of his VC, Robert Beatham became known as the "English Anzac".

Mrs McLeish said: "I am really glad he's being remembered in this way. We feel very proud and he isn't forgotten."