A WAR veteran who has raised thousands of pounds for the Royal British Legion has branded a heartless gang who vandalised his home on Remembrance Day as “sickening”.

A WAR veteran who has raised thousands of pounds for the Royal British Legion has branded a heartless gang who vandalised his home on Remembrance Day as “sickening”.

Heroic Bill Green - one of seven brothers who served in the Second World War - last night questioned what he had fought for after his home was targeted just hours after he had observed the two-minute silence in a service in Sudbury.

Mr Green, who has spent the last two weeks selling poppies, said he was disgusted when he found out that the brick wall fronting his village home had been smashed in during a spate of criminal damage in Great Waldingfield.

He said: “I had got up early on Saturday and went to load my poppies into my car ready for another day selling when I saw the damage.

“It gutted me and I just didn't want to know anybody. Me and my six brothers fought in the Second World War and when something like this happens, you wonder if it was all worth it.

“What happened has sickened me - I know it is only a brick wall but it is the principle of the thing. What so many people did for this country, something like this makes you wonder why we bothered.”

Mr Green, 84, whose father Harry was a soldier in the First World War, was part of the Royal Army Ordinance Corps during the Second World War.

He suffered life-threatening injuries when he was torpedoed just outside North Africa in 1942 and then later when he was involved in a near fatal accident as a dispatch rider during the conflict.

He ended the campaign as a carpenter and joiner helping London recover from the Blitz. For his efforts, he earned a Star medal, Africa Star, Defence Medal and Victory Medal.

Mr Green, 84, who ran a village shop in Great Waldingfield, has since raised thousands of pounds by selling poppies in Sudbury for more than 30 years.

He raised almost £5,000 from a collection in one single year and was invited to meet the Queen at Buckingham Palace.

And his efforts were also recognised on Sunday when he was asked to give the salute at Sudbury's remembrance service.

He said: “Each year I say that's my lot but each year I start again and just can't stop. The kids call me Mr Poppy Man and when they donate money, it restores my faith a little.

“I was so proud to be asked to give the salute and it really was one of the best days in my life. All the people lined up to shake my hand and it was very emotional.”

The vandalism was part of a spate of criminal damage in the village, with police last night believing at least ten homes in Heathway, Folly Road, Bantocks Road and Lavenham Road were targeted sometime between Friday and Saturday .

“We have received several complaints of criminal damage to brick walls and garden fences in the village,” said a police spokesman.

“Someone must have seen something and we would ask witnesses to get in touch.”

Anyone with information should contact Pc Scott Lee-Amies at Sudbury Police on 01284 774300 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.