THE daughter of a Korean War veteran has launched her quest to track down the orphans her father saved in the middle of the conflict.

Deborah Marshall, 58, flew out to South Korea over the weekend as part of a veterans trip to the country.

Her 88-year-old father Frank Hawkes, who was unable to make the trip himself, was part of a Royal Navy landing party that came across a group of around 20 starving children during the war.

In a moment of kindness and compassion the British servicemen made contact with their ship, HMS Ceylon, and hastily organised for clothes and dozens of boxes of food to be brought to the children.

Fifty years on from this meeting, two of the orphans, Kwang-Il Park and Soon-Ok Chang, travelled to London to meet Mr Hawkes and other members of the crew.

At the time it was reported before the trip Mrs Chang said she was travelling to "meet her father".

Having been given the opportunity to join the excursion funded by the South Korean government, Mrs Marshall, who lives in Mudeford, is desperate to track down the people her father met more than 60 years ago.

"I want to find at least one of the orphans or their children," she said.

"I will go out to Korea again if I have to, I just want someone to lead me to them.

"I don't think I am going to find them in the short week I am out there, but the search will continue.

"The thing that really touched my heart and prompted my search was when one of the orphans who met my dad said "these are my fathers".

"For me my heart just went out to her. If she wants to recognise my dad as her father then I want to be her sister. I want to meet her or her family."

During the trip, Mrs Marshall is due to attend a number of memorial services and events in South Korea, before concluding the week with a banquet hosted by the state.

Alongside her attempts to find the orphans, she is also hoping to collect the Korean Ambassador for Peace Medal, which was offered to everyone who served during the conflict.

As her father never returned to the country, he has never received his medal.

"If I bring back the medal for my dad it is going to be hugely emotional," Mrs Marshall added.

"I want to be able to bring it home for him. It will mean so much to me."