A D-DAY veteran has died one week after a hastened hospital ceremony in Bradford where he was awarded the Legion d’Honneur medal.

Alan Brown, 92, from Skipton, was presented with France’s highest decoration at Bradford Royal Infirmary because he was too ill to wait for an official ceremony planned for tomorrow at the town’s golf club.

His daughter Joscelyne Durrant and family arranged for it to happen in his hospital room and were helped on the day by nurses and doctors on Ward 30.

Despite being so frail, Mr Brown proudly wore his jacket and other medals as the French honorary consul for Leeds, Jeremy Burton, handed him the Legion d’Honneur which is France’s top accolade for men and women who distinguish themselves through civilian or military valour.

President Francois Hollande announced during the 70th anniversary commemoration of the Normandy landings that France would give its highest honour to all surviving D-Day veterans.

Mr Brown, of Otley Street, was just 18 in 1942 when he signed up and served in the Navy until 1946. During the landings, he was First Officer on Motor Torpedo Boats (MTB) 708, 720 and 730. After the invasion of Normandy, he transported Winston Churchill and Lord Ismay from Utah beach on the MTB he was commanding to Arromanches.

He also served on the perilous Russian convoys, delivering lifesaving food and vital weapons to the Soviet people in the Soviet Union and in 2014, was one of five Craven veterans to be awarded the Ushakov medal by the Russian government.

His daughter said she was extremely proud that her father’s bravery during the war had been recognised and praised staff on Ward 30 for the way they have cared for him.

“The care that dad has received has been wonderful, nothing has been too much trouble – everyone has really gone beyond the call of duty, and we appreciate it so much. Receiving the Légion d’Honneur was such a great honour and it meant so much to dad,” she said.

Ward sister Jessica Hodgins added: “It was a fantastic honour for us to be involved in a small way to help this happen. It was a really special time and I got to see the medal which was such a thrill. I’m so pleased that Alan’s family shared this occasion with him.”

Mr Brown retired back to Yorkshire in 1986 and was a former president of the Yorkshire Ramblers Club as well as a past chairman of the Skipton U3A (university of the third age) and a member of many local societies.

Alan was one of five veterans in the Craven area to be recognised with the Légion d’Honneur, the four others will be presented with their medals at tomorrow’s ceremony in the town.

In 2014, the French government announced it would award the honour to all surviving veterans involved in the D-Day landings, but it was inundated with more than 4,000 requests resulting in a huge backlog.

Earlier this year the Telegraph & Argus reported how the applications were passed to the French authorities via the Ministry of Defence (MoD) but there were backlog problems and cases were having to be re-submitted. More than 2,400 awards have been made so far.