The Royal Tank Corps, as it was then titled, had a struggle to maintain its existence in the years after the First World War. The Machine Gun Corps within which it had been formed in 1916 was disbanded — its role transferred to designated infantry regiments — and the cavalry had yet to take an interest in armoured warfare.

In order to develop a broader understanding of the potential use of firepower under armoured protection, the RTC took over responsibility for amoured cars. Companies of these were deployed to the internal security trouble spots of the interwar years, including Iraq and the North-West Frontier of India.

In the summer of 1936, Frank Naughton was serving as a private soldier with the 10th Light Tank Company RTC at Kirkee in Poona. His unit was being equipped with light tanks, hence its name, but was still using Crossley armoured cars with turret-mounted Vickers machineguns. One of the cars had failed to get through the waters of the River Indrayani over a sunken “Irish” bridge near Moshi and remained stranded. Lance Corporal Temple, Naughton and another man named Campbell were sent out to recover the vehicle, which they found in danger of being swept away by a torrent of floodwater rushing over the submerged roadway.

Temple and Campbell waded out to climb into the car but lost their footing and were swept off the bridge into the swollen river, disappearing downstream. Naughton, who was a strong swimmer, pulled off his boots and plunged in after them only to find himself in serious difficulties owing to the exceptionally strong current. Initially he was unable to locate either of his comrades and, fearing for his own life, was able to find shallow water just in time.

He struggled ashore and, on climbing up the bank, saw what appeared to be a body on the surface 40 yards further down. He ran along the bank and, although by then well aware of the danger, re-entered the water and swam out to the unconscious Lance Corporal Temple. After a prolonged struggle with the current and rocks in mid-stream, he managed to bring him to the bank, where both men were dragged to safety by other soldiers who had fortuitously reached the scene. No trace was found of Private Campbell.

Naughton was awarded the Empire Gallantry Medal for risking his life to save a comrade and received the decoration from the state governor, Lord Braborne, at a picturesque ceremony at Poona race course in June 1937. He completed his six years engagement as a regular soldier that November and, on his return to England, joined the Plymouth City Police in March 1938.

As a regular army reservist he was recalled to the colours in December 1939. After serving with a training regiment as an instructor, he was sent back to India in early 1942 to join the 26th Hussars with the rank of sergeant. He was commissioned into the Royal Tank Regiment later that year and subsequently served with 150th RTR as technical adjutant during the Burma campaign of 1944-45.

He took part in the battles of Kohima and Imphal, the capture of Mandalay and finally in General Sir William Slim’s drive south through Burma to relieve Rangoon. It was while serving in the war he was informed that, under a Royal Warrant of January 31, 1941, all surviving holders of the Empire Gallantry Medal were authorised to exchange their awards for the George Cross. This decoration, which ranks with the Victoria Cross, had been instituted by King George VI in September 1940 after the onset of German air attacks on London and other British cities and ports to recognise “acts of the most conspicuous courage in circumstances of extreme danger”. It was to be awarded to civilians or members of the Armed Services for heroism not in the immediate face of the enemy. Accordingly, after his return to England after the war, Frank Naughton received the George Cross for his act of heroism a decade earlier.

He was born on March 13, 1915, at Burton-on-Trent, the son of a former soldier of The East Yorkshire Regiment who had served in the South African War of 1899-1902 and in the First World War. He attended Guild Street Central School, Burton-on-Trent, before enlisting in the Royal Tank Corps at the age of 18 in 1933.

On return to England after the war, he rejoined the Plymouth police and served with them until 1968. He worked for the English China Clay Company in Plymouth until 1979 and was president of the local branches of the Burma Star Association and the Royal Tank Regiment Association until his retirement in 1995 at the age of 80. He remained active in reunions of the VC and GC Association until the end of his life.

He is survived by his wife Doreen, whom he had married in 1939, and by their two sons.

Frank Naughton, GC, was born on March 13, 1915. He died on June 18, 2004, aged 89.