A 94-year-old war veteran has left almost £2 million to children's charities in memory of his only daughter who died, aged three.

Albert Chapman, who was known as Sonny, was in Palestine during the Second World War when he learned that his child, Gillian, had been killed in a road accident outside the family home in Burgess Hill.

He was not allowed to return home to Gillian's funeral or to be with his wife Gwendoline, who died nine years ago.

Now, 56 years later, Mr Chapman, who had lived in Folders Lane, has left his huge legacy to charities, including Great Ormond Street Hospital, the NSPCC and Barnardo's.

The money was inherited from the family of his wife, who owned the successful Terry's Emporium at Burgess Hill.

Last night his oldest friend, Professor Jake Jacobs, who had known Mr Chapman for more than 50 years, said: "I have so many wonderful memories of the time I spent with Sonny.

"But my most vivid recollection of him was when he got the news about the tragic death of his daughter when we were in Palestine during the war.

"We were in the intelligence corps and the commanding officer would not let him return home to be with his wife Gwendoline. That was something terrible but that was the nature of the war."

Keith and Pat Dennis, who had lived next door to Mr Chapman since 1969, were surprised at the amount of money he had left but believed his charitable gift was a result of the loss of Gillian.

Mrs Dennis said: "He would tell us after his wife died that she had wanted the money to be left to children's charities.

"He didn't talk very much about the death of his daughter but there was always a photograph on the wall. On one occasion he did tell us the tragic story."

Mr Chapman's nephew, Tim Jones, described his uncle as man who loved children.

In a eulogy read out at Mr Chapman's funeral, he said: "Sonny had an uncanny ability to establish a rapport with people from all walks of life and of all ages, but especially with children.

"I suspect that this may have been partly the result of the one great tragedy in his life, the accidental death as a young child of his only daughter Gillian.

"Whatever the reason I am grateful to have had Sonny as my uncle for the past 50 years and particularly grateful that my own children also came to know him well, almost as a surrogate grandfather.

"I also know that he had a similar rapport first with the children and then the grandchildren of his close friends and neighbours, Keith and Pat, who did so much for him in his later years."

Mr Chapman was born in Hove and was the second of four children. After leaving school at 14 he went to work in a local solicitor's office, the beginning of a career as a legal executive, in the course of which he rose to become managing clerk at a leading firm in Brighton.

He was in his mid-20s when he met his future wife of 56 years, Gwendoline Terry. In 1934 the couple moved to Overhills, the house they had built for them in Folders Lane which was to remain Mr Chapman's home for life.

The couple were involved in the local amateur dramatics club and frequently appeared in Christmas pantomimes. They were also heavily involved in fund-raising for local charities.

Mr Chapman also left money to Sussex charities, including St Andrew's Parochial Church Council, Burgess Hill, the Heatherley Cheshire Home at Copthorne, St Catherine's Hospice, Crawley and St Dunstan's.