More than £20,000 has been raised to help a hero RAF rear gunner who faced selling his home when the NHS withdrew funding for his medical treatment.

Bob Frost, 95, who is bedbound, and his companion Mildred Schutz, 94, a former SOE who operated behind enemy lines in 1944, told MailOnline they were in despair.

'The NHS said I'd survived too long and they were stopping my funding,' the World War Two hero said.

'That came as a mortal blow, it really did. I don't have a massive retirement plan. My pension wasn't adjusted for the cost of living, so I came off very thinly.'

A JustGiving page set up on Saturday has now raised £20,458 of its £30,000 goal to help Mr Frost pay his medical bills after he was told he would need to sell his home to do so. To donateclick here.

Bob Frost, 95, is a hero RAF rear gunner who evaded capture by the Nazis in 1942. His companion Mildren Schutz, 94, operated behind enemy lines in 1944

Mr Frost has been told to sell his house to pay for medical bills as he has 'survived too long'

'The NHS said I'd survived too long and they were stopping my funding,' the war hero said. 'That came as a mortal blow, it really did'

This graphic shows how Armistice Day will be commemorated in London and around the country today

Mr Frost, who was shot down over Belgium in September 1942, said: 'All my life I tried to buy a house so I'd have something to pass on to my children. But now they're taking it away.'

Mildred, who laid a wreath for the Special Forces club at Westminster Abbey for Remembrance Sunday, added: 'Bob's house is worth £300,000 and it's all he has in the world to pass on.

'It is a very cruel blow, when he should be treated with dignity.'

Coming on the centenary of the 1918 Armistice, the case raises concerns about the treatment of veterans who fought bravely for Britain in their youth.

Mr Frost was admitted to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital, Margate, Kent, after he had a fall in March.

He was moved after one night to Ami Court nursing home, in Walmer, Kent, and put on an 'end of life care' programme, funded by the NHS.

But he amazed doctors by surviving two bouts of pneumonia and a kidney infection.

Mr Frost, originally from Camden, north London, was the rear gunner in a Wellington bomber that was shot down in September 1942, as it flew to raid the German town of Essen (pictured: Mr Frost when he joined the RAF)

Mr Frost (third from the right) met the Queen Mother after serving his country in the RAF

'With deepest respect and utmost gratitude this drawing is dedicated to Sgt Robert (Bob) Frost, Rear Air Gunner, depicting Wellington BJ877-Z Zebra. Presented by his friends from Belgium as a tribute to a brave man who risked his life for our freedom'

Now, given his good health, the NHS decided to withdraw funding for his care, passing the case onto social services at Kent County Council.

That was when he was told he must stump up the cash. Care at his nursing home costs up to £5,000 a month. His only asset is his two bedroom home in Sandwich, Kent.

'My father was a brewery labourer, and fought for the Royal Flying Corps in World War One,' he said. 'We never had very much money.'

'I've never been one to be greedy, but I worked hard for my house and I had hoped to be able to pass it on.'

Mr Frost, originally from Camden, north London, was the rear gunner in a Wellington bomber that was shot down in September 1942, as it flew to raid the German town of Essen.

Mr Frost met Mrs Schutz 20 years ago through Special Forces circles. Widowed in 1983, the mother-of-five was active in various clubs and societies in the espionage community.

After the war Mildred worked for a shipping company and married Reginald (both pictured), an accountant at the same firm. They had five children, but he died of a brain tumour in 1983

'All my life I tried to buy a house so I'd have something to pass on to my children,' said Mr Frost. 'But now they're taking it away'

'Everything fine and dandy, safe at Gibraltar': A message from Mr Frost's days in the Royal Air Force

The war was at its height, and Bomber Command had lost 36 aircrafts from a single squadron in four months.

'It wasn't a matter of if you'd get shot down. It was a matter of when,' Mr Frost said.

He bailed out and parachuted to safety, then made his way to a nearby village.

Seeing red 'V for victory' graffiti on a wall, he knocked on a door and was taken in by the local mayor.

'The Germans were after me, and the resistance were trying to help me,' he said.

'I was hidden in an attic, and I remember looking out the window at the street below where a festival was going on.

Mr Frost's old flight log book and Royal Air Force Air Gunner (AG) brevet patch. The log book details Mr Frost's qualification as Air Gunner on January 23, 1942

After his bomber was shot down, Mr Frost was targeted by a German soldier on a train as he made his way back to Britain, and only managed to escape by pretending to be insane

He was smuggled across the Pyrenees in October 1942, arrived in Spain and made his way to the British embassy in Madrid

'After that, I would walk the streets in civilian clothing, trying to seem as normal as possible.'

He went to ground, buying false identity papers under the name Robert Simoness, and posed as a Belgian seaman visiting his elderly mother.

With the help of the Belgian and French resistance, he was eventually smuggled out of Europe via the 'Comet Line', a 1,200 mile escape route organised by British undercover agents together with the French underground.

On one occasion, he was targeted by a German soldier on a train, and only managed to escape by pretending to be insane.

He was smuggled across the Pyrenees in October 1942, arrived in Spain and made his way to the British embassy in Madrid. From there, he posted a pair of shoes he had borrowed from a supporter back to Belgium.

'My squadron wanted to court martial me for coming back so late, and I had words with them in very plain English,' Mr Frost said

His companion Mrs Schutz grew up on a farm in Walton-on-Thames, was recruited by the SOE, 'the forerunner of MI6', at age 17, and went on to work behind enemy lines in Italy, 1944

'It was a sign to tell him I'd made it,' he recalled. 'My squadron wanted to court martial me for coming back so late, and I had words with them in very plain English.'

After the war he married, became a headmaster in Kent and adopted two children. But his wife, Daphne, died of motor neurone disease in 1995.

He met his friend Mrs Schutz, 20 years ago through Special Forces circles. Widowed in 1983, the mother-of-five was active in various clubs and societies in the espionage community.

Mrs Schutz, who grew up on a farm in Walton-on-Thames, was recruited for the Inter-Services Research Bureau, which made weapons and equipment for spies, at the age of 17.

'I was very surprised when I found out that I'd joined SOE, the forerunner of MI6,' she said.

Mrs Schutz and Mr Frost became 'inseparable' since they met after the war through special forces circles

Mr Frost had managed to save up £25,000, she said, but it was stolen by a family member with access to his bank account, who also left him with a £15,000 overdraft

'They offered me training and I accepted. It was mainly memory training. They would give me a brief set of instructions once and I'd have to obey them perfectly the next day.

'Finally, they asked me if I'd be willing to go overseas in the field. They said I'd need to have parachute training. I thought it was terribly exciting, so I said yes immediately.'

Despite having her cover blown by German agents before she left Britain, Mrs Schutz was despatched to Italy in 1944.

Mr Frost declined to press charges and had just finished paying the overdraft off using his pension when he was told that his NHS funding would stop

Mrs Schutz travels from her home in London to visit Mr Frost in Kent several times a month, spending more than £50 on travel each time

There she was ordered to work behind enemy lines, making contact with friendly Italian resistance groups and organising them into effective fighting operations.

'It could get pretty hectic,' she recalled. 'Once I was in a jeep and some Fascist fighters triggered a landslide on us.

'I only just escaped with my life. I then secured the documents we needed, and was driving back through a vineyard.

Former RAF rear gunner Bob Frost, who escaped capture by the Nazis, pictured with his old plane

'A group of Italians came running out, shouting that the place was full of Germans. We sped round a corner, straight into a machine-gun nest which opened fire.

'Luckily, it's quite tricky to hit a speeding jeep.'

After the war she worked for a shipping company and married Reginald, an accountant at the same firm. They had five children, but he died of a brain tumour in 1983.

'I wasn't in a great rush to get married. I didn't think it a good idea,' she said. 'Once one has been abroad in the forces, being a housewife seems all a bit mundane.'

She became active in 'interesting things', however, including supporting the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY), the Princess Royal's volunteer corps, an all-female organisation that provides assistance to the civil and military authorities in times of emergency.

In March Mr Frost, pictured with his old plane, was admitted to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital, Margate, Kent, after a fall

It was through these circles that she met Mr Frost, who belongs to the Escape Lines Memorial Society (ELMS).

'I suppose you could say that we have become inseparable,' she said.

Mr Frost had managed to save up £25,000, she said, but it was stolen by a family member with access to his bank account, who also left him with a £15,000 overdraft.

He declined to press charges, however, and had just finished paying the overdraft off using his pension when he was told that his NHS funding would stop.

Mrs Schutz travels from her home in London to visit Mr Frost in Kent several times a month, spending more than £50 on travel each time.

'It all does add up, especially as I have to get a taxi to the station and back these days,' she said. 'But we are both very lucky to be alive.'

At 95, Bob is among the very last of the fast diminishing band of WWII RAF veterans. Mr Frost's wife, Mrs Schutz, travels from her home in London to visit him at his nursing home in Kent several times a month, spending more than £50 on travel each time

Earlier this week Mr Frost's MP Craig MacKinlay, wrote to his solicitor to allow Mrs Schutz, under the Power of Attorney she holds for Mr Frost, to contact the East Kent Heath and Social Services on her husband's behalf.

The aim is to get them to revise their Continuing Care Assessment so that Mr Frost does not have to sell his house to pay for his care in his final days.

In the meantime, however funds the funds are exhausted to help Ms Schutz pay for her thrice monthly 170 mile round rail and taxi journeys from Worcester Park to Walmer to be by her husband's bedside.

A Kent County Council spokesman said: 'Mr Frost has not yet been assessed by KCC and is at present receiving continuing healthcare funding from the NHS.

'We appreciate that paying for residential care in a care home is extremely expensive but KCC is bound by government legislation on funding arrangements.

'KCC has to carry out a financial assessment to see whether people are eligible for funding support and this looks at income and savings - including the value of property.

'If someone has over £23,250 that person is self-funding meaning they pay for their costs. Below this threshold and the local council can fund some of a person’s care.

'When this money drops below £14,250, funding is solely from the local council.

'People eligible for NHS continuing healthcare will have their care home costs funded by the NHS.'

In order to help raise funds for the RAF hero a JustGiving page has been set up and can be visited on: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/hero-bob-frost

MailOnline have contacted The Royal British Legion and MP Craig MacKinlay for comment.