New Zealand is a long way from the battlefields of Balaklava in the Crimea, but the four medals, won by Private James Lamb of the 13th Light Dragoons, were donated to a Yorkshire museum by a dairy farmer from Putaruru, on the country's North Island.

John Lamb, 70, made a special 11,000-mile trip from his home for the presentation, which has delighted the Regimental Museum of the 13th/18th Royal Hussars and Light Dragoons at Cannon Hall, in Cawthorne, near Barnsley.

Mr Lamb had inherited the medals from his father, who had emigrated to New Zealand in the 1930s, but said yesterday he thought the time was right for the medals to come back home to England.

Pte Lamb was awarded the medals for his actions in the doomed charge on October 25 1854, after he and another soldier, Sgt Joseph Malone, suffered serious injuries as they rescued an officer from the battlefield under heavy fire.

Their actions were brought to the attention of Queen Victoria, who thought their bravery was worth the Victoria Cross, but only one VC was awarded, and according to records the two heroes were forced to draw lots, Malone winning.

Yesterday, military experts would only say Pte Lamb's medals were of a "very high value" and Mr Lamb said he felt that it was important that they were placed with people who would look after them and recognise their importance.

He said: "The medals were handed to James's only son James Henry, and then to my father James Godfrey, who was also an only son. I was also the only son in my family and they came to me, but now I have no sons," said Mr Lamb.

"On my first visit to England 14 years ago one of my cousins told us about the museum. We drove over here to have a look and I saw they had Malone's medals and his VC on display.

"Last year, when I decided the medals should be looked after properly, I thought of the museum and we contacted the staff here. I will miss the medals, but I will also be relieved that they are in the right place."

The regimental secretary of the Light Dragoons and keeper of the military collection at Cannon Hall, Capt Gary Locker, described the donation as "extremely generous and extremely significant" .

The collection of medals won by Pte Lamb, who was born in Fowey, Cornwall in 1829, includes the Crimea Medal with clasps for Alma, Balaklava, Inkerman and Sebastopol, the Turkish Medal, and the Long Service and Good Conduct medals.

Capt Locker said: "It is the story and the provenance that goes with Pte Lamb's medals that make them a superb addition to the museum. When Mr Lamb first contacted me by e-mail in July last year, I thought it was my duty to tell him that the medals were of a very high value.

"But he wrote back and told me that he thought they should reside here."

The medals will go on display at Cannon Hall shortly.