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AN OXFORD man who battled claustrophobia to dig coal for Britain during the Second World War has been thanked for his efforts by Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Eighty-two-year-old Dan Duhig, who lives in Lime Road, Botley, was one of 27 so-called Bevin Boys invited to 10 Downing Street to receive a commemorative badge in recognition of their wartime service.

Many of the conscripted miners suffered abuse from members of the public, who thought they were dodging military duty.

Mr Duhig was 18 when he was sent almost 300 miles north to work at Stobswood Colliery, between Morpeth and Alnwick, in North- umberland.

The men's contribution to the war effort had never been formally recognised until Tuesday, when they each received a lapel badge, featuring a pithead design and profile of a miner, to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the demobilisation of the last Bevin Boys.

Mr Duhig spent more than two years digging coal until he eventually had a nervous breakdown because of his claustrophobia and was signed off work by a doctor.

He said: "We wanted to go to fight for our country but if your number came up, it meant you had to go down the pit or be sent to prison.

"Working in a pit you're surprised by the sheer and utter blackness of it down there. I'm claustrophobic and the work took a tremendous personal toll - in the end I just couldn't work down there any more.

"It's hard, filthy work. It was terrible but we had to do it to keep the country running. In those days, without coal you couldn't do anything. The country absolutely relied on it.

"At the time, when people saw us out in the street without a uniform, they didn't know why young lads weren't in the armed forces and we were persecuted most of the times we went out, because people thought we didn't want to fight."

Mr Duhig, who later worked for 43 years at the Pressed Steel factory in Cowley, added: "A lot of the public still don't know about us and the role we played in the war.

"This is the first time we have ever honoured and this is something the Bevin Boys have been trying to get for the past 60 years.

"It was a very emotional occasion. After Gordon Brown shook my hand and thanked me for my efforts I felt very proud, it was a job to hold back the tears."

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

6:29am Friday 28th March 2008

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