A DECORATED Antarctic explorer and former Royal Navy engineer officer from Colwall has died aged 90.

Lieutenant Kevin Walton won what later became the George Cross for rescuing a fellow member of an Antarctic research expedition from a crevasse in 1946.

Using a tool made from the sawn-off spike of an ice-axe he chipped away until he had freed his colleague sufficiently to fix a rope around his shoulders allowing him to be pulled to safety. The rescue took more than three hours.

Mr Walton received an Albert Medal at Buckingham Palace following the incident. In 1971 when recipients were invited to exchange their medal for a George Cross, he chose to retain the Albert Medal.

The rescue is just one notable achievement in a remarkable life that started in Kobe, Japan, where his father was a missionary.

Mr Walton studied Civil Engineering at Imperial College London and joined the Navy, where he played a role on the battleship HMS Rodney in decisive action against the Bismarck. He also helped keep the destroyer HMS Onslow afloat in 1942 after she was holed during conflict off the North Cape. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for this action.

After being demobbed he joined the Antarctic expedition Operation Tabarin, returning home to marry Ruth, going on to have four children and 11 grandchildren.

He came to Colwall in 1969 to work at Malvern College and the couple later built their own house in Walwyn Road.

Mr and Mrs Walton pioneered the "Penny a Pint" scheme, encouraging people to donate to the charity Water Aid when drawing Malvern Spring Water. The scheme raised more than £1,300 last year for a water supply project in India.

Mr Walton's son Jonathan said his father was "incredibly community-minded", modest and placed great importance on family.

Mr Walton never lost his passion for engineering, making regular checks on Colwall's new railway bridge even towards the end of his life.

"He was an engineer through and through," said Jonathan. "If there was a problem to be solved then he would be solving it."

Mrs Walton added: "He just had this tenacity and enthusiasm for everything that was going on around him. He was always curious and never stopped asking questions. Right to the end of his life he was active in his workshop making things of wood and generally keeping busy."

Mr Walton will be cremated on Friday, May 1 and there will be a Thanksgiving Service in St James's Church, Colwall at 3pm the same day.

People attending are asked to wear colourful clothes in keeping with Mr Walton's life.