Sir Jimmy was one of 27 Bevin Boys to receive badges from the Prime Minister at a ceremony in Downing Street yesterday.

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Around 48,000 men aged between 18 and 25 were chosen to work in the mines to "keep the home fires burning" between 1943 and 1948.

They were picked for duty by a lottery which took place in the Whitehall office of Minister for Labour and National Service Ernest Bevin.

Sir Jimmy wanted to go into the RAF or Navy, but in about 1943 was instead conscripted to work down the mines.

He said yesterday: "I loved it. I was up at four in the morning, down (the pit) at six and then probably a mile and half bent double underground.

"When I got to the coal face they always thought I was very peculiar because I would rush up to the coal face and I would put my hands on it and I would say 'that's been there for 70 million years and I'm the first person to touch it'."

The ceremony coincided with the 60th anniversary of the demobilisation of the last Bevin Boys.

Anyone who was conscripted directly into the mines, who joined the mines instead of the armed forces or who originally served in the armed forces and later volunteered to become a miner, is eligible to apply for a badge.

Mr Brown said: "The service the Bevin Boys gave was incredibly important and not only helped us to win the war but also to rebuild our country after the war.

"The Bevin Boys' contribution, like that of the Spitfire Women, the Women's Timber Corps and the Women's Land Army, did not receive the recognition it deserved at the time as honours were concentrated on those who saw front- line service."

Business Secretary John Hutton said: "It is with much gratitude we recognise the truly significant work and sacrifice of the Bevin Boys with the award of this unique veterans' badge."

Yorkshire was one of the three main areas where the Bevin Boys worked.

The Prince of Wales Colliery in Pontefract served as one of the 13 Government collieries which trained the new and inexperienced miners before sending them to other Yorkshire pits.

Sir Jimmy served at the Prince of Wales Colliery, the South Kirkby Colliery in Hemsworth and Waterloo Pit at Temple Newsam, Leeds.

He told the YEP: "When somebody said you are going to get a medal for working down the pit as a conscript, there was nobody as surprised as me.

"In wartime you did not do things for rewards. You did them for your country."