Captain Sir Tom Moore has died in hospital at the age of 100
Date published: 02 February 2021
Captain Sir Tom Moore became a national hero
Captain Sir Tom Moore has died at the age of 100 with Coronavirus
The 100-year-old charity fundraiser was taken to hospital on Sunday, after being treated for pneumonia for some time and testing positive for the virus the week before last.
On Monday, Bedford Hospital said Capt Sir Tom had been joined by members of his family.
The veteran's family had confirmed his illness on Sunday, releasing a statement on Twitter which said he had needed additional help with his breathing and was being treated on a ward but not in ICU.
Capt Sir Tom's fundraising efforts raised more than £32 million for the NHS last year, walking 100 laps of his garden before his 100th birthday during the first lockdown in April.
The veteran set out to raise £1,000 from his lockdown charity challenge but his efforts struck a chord with the public, and donations took off.
Moore was conscripted in the 8th Battalion, Duke of Wellington's Regiment in May 1940, and stationed in Cornwall, eight months after the beginning of the Second World War. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1941
In October the same year, Moore became a member of the Royal Armoured Corps. Later that year, he was transferred to the 9th Battalion in India. He was initially posted to Mumbai and subsequently to Kolkata.
Moore returned to the UK in February 1945, to take a training course on the inner workings of the Churchill tanks, learning to become an instructor. He did not return to the regiment, remaining as an instructor and the Technical Adjutant of the Armoured Vehicle Fighting School in Bovington Camp, Dorset, until he was demobilised in early 1946.
Captain Sir Tom was knighted by the Queen last year following his NHS fund-raising effort. The knighthood came just weeks after he was made an honorary colonel to mark his centenary and fundraising efforts.
On receiving the news, Sir Tom said: “I thought this can’t be true, this would never happen but it seems that it has and I would never have anticipated it.”
In a statement this afternoon, Capt Sir Tom's daughters Mrs Ingram-Moore and Lucy Teixeira said: "It is with great sadness that we announce the death of our dear father, Captain Sir Tom Moore.
"We are so grateful that we were with him during the last hours of his life; Hannah, Benjie and Georgia by his bedside and Lucy on FaceTime.
"We spent hours chatting to him, reminiscing about our childhood and our wonderful mother. We shared laughter and tears together.
"The last year of our father's life was nothing short of remarkable. He was rejuvenated and experienced things he'd only ever dreamed of.
"Whilst he'd been in so many hearts for just a short time, he was an incredible father and grandfather, and he will stay alive in our hearts forever."
Do you have a story for us? Want to tell us about something going on in and around Oldham? Let us know by emailing news@oldham-chronicle.co.uk , calling our Oldham-based newsroom on 0161 633 2121 , tweeting us @oldhamchronicle or messaging us through our Facebook page. All contact will be treated in confidence.
