His widow, Alice, 87, received the Mobilisation War Cross from the Dutch Consul-General in a ceremony at St Hedwig Village, Blacktown, last Wednesday.

She said she was sad that her husband was not there to receive the medal himself but was ``very proud of this and for him''.

``It means so much to me that Peter has at last been recognised for his service in the war.'' she said.

Mr Van Den Nieuwenhof died on February 28 this year, just short of his 89th birthday.

Their son, Ray, had petitioned the Dutch Government to recognise his father's war service but his father died before this was confirmed.

The couple had met in 1940, just before the Germans occupied their country.

Mr Van Den Nieuwenhof joined the underground resistance and went to work in a German aeroplane factory where workers sabotaged the planes.

``The Germans were after him after that,'' his wife recalled.

They fled to France and on to neutral Switzerland.

``That was very dangerous,'' she said.

``I saw a searchlight [near the Swiss border] and I couldn't walk any more I was so frightened.

``But the only thing to do was to go ahead.''

After arriving in Switzerland they stayed in a refugee camp where conditions were so bad that some people died. They eventually travelled to Britain where Peter joined the Dutch army in exile.

After the war they migrated to Australia and in 1955 settled in Toongabbie.