Betrayal of a hero: After his bomber crashed in WW2, it took 50 operations to rebuild Tom... only to be killed 66 years later by a hospital superbug

Tom Pretty was read the last rites after losing half his right arm and having most of his face burned off in a Second World War air crash.

He survived and earned a place in the Guinea Pig Club of injured airmen whose bodies were rebuilt by pioneering plastic surgery.

But more than 60 years later he found one enemy he could not resist - the C.diff superbug, which he caught in an NHS hospital. He died last week aged 86 at his home near Diss, Norfolk.

Yesterday his grieving family blamed "filthy" conditions for the loss of their father.

They claim the floors of Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital were covered in dirt, while nurses dealt with Mr Pretty without protective gloves and clothing to stop the spread of infection.

His son John, 60, who still runs the garage business in Diss set up by Mr Pretty when he left the RAF in 1952, said: "It's an outrage. We've lost all confidence in the NHS.

"We always thought he was bulletproof - he survived so much and was such a brave man."

Tom Pretty joined the RAF as a gunnery sergeant soon after the war began. He was the only survivor of the nine-man crew when a Halifax bomber crashed during training over Lincolnshire in 1942.

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His face and body were rebuilt during more than 50 pioneering operations by surgeon Sir Archibald McIndoe. He was given a new nose made using flesh from his shoulder.

New Zealand-born Sir Archibald's headquarters at the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead, Sussex, was just a prefabricated shed. Despite his limited resources, however, he transformed the lives of many badly burned air crew and fought to improve the pay and conditions of maimed servicemen. They formed the 200-strong Guinea Pig Club, of whom about 60 are still alive.

Mr Pretty was one of the most dramatic successes, returning to service in 1944 and helping to train gunners on Halifax bombers. He met his future wife Eileen when he was convalescing in Morecambe. She was working as a nurse and would push him along the promenade.

They married in 1946 and went on to have three children, seven grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. Mrs Pretty died in 1990.

It was on January 6 this year that Mr Pretty was admitted to hospital with a broken arm. Apart from catching C.diff, he also developed a urinary infection and a pressure sore. He returned home on February 12 after doctors said he did not need to be kept in isolation, but he died seven weeks later.

The death certificate listed Clostridium difficile and a fractured humerus as the secondary cause of death and heart failure as the primary cause - although his family believe it was brought on by the infection. His funeral will be held on April 18 at Scole Church in Diss.

John Pretty said: "Sir Archibald made medical history working from a tiny shack, while the modern NHS can't even keep its own ward clean."

His sister Julie Morris said she had to remind nurses treating her father in isolation to wear protective gloves and his ward was dirty.

"I picked up a toilet roll from under the chair and it was so covered in fluff that I had to throw it away. I feel very angry because all of this was totally avoidable. I feel my father was let down."

A spokesman for the hospital said: "Mr Pretty was discharged on February 12 and he would not have been discharged from us unless he was well enough.

"We would be happy to hear from Mr Pretty's family if they have concerns about his treatment in our care so we can investigate thoroughly on their behalf."