AA SPECIAL
CAPTAIN TOM MOORE
LT COLONEL THOMAS MOORE
AKA “CAPTAIN TOM”
MILITARY HISTORIAN, WILL FOWLER, TAKES A BRIEF LOOK BACK AT THE HISTORY OF A MAN WHOSE DETERMINATION
EARNED HIM THE GRATITUDE AND RESPECT OF AN ENTIRE NATION.
I
f you live outside of the UK, the name “Captain Tom”
might not be familiar to you but here, he is a national
hero.
On the 6th April, at the ripe old age of 99, Captain
Tom, a former British Army officer, began to walk laps of
his garden aiming to reach his goal of raising £1,000 in aid
of NHS Charities Together by his 100th birthday, on the
30th. His challenge captured
the British public’s hearts and
donations started pouring
in, so much so that on the
morning of the 30th April the
total raised by his walk had
passed £30 million and by the
end of the day (and his long
walk), was just shy of £33
million!
His 100th birthday was
marked by with a flypast from
the RAF’s Battle of Britain
Memorial Flight, a video call
from the Secretary General of
the United Nations, Antonio
Guterres and a personalised
birthday card from Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.
He was also appointed as honorary colonel of the Army
Foundation College and featured in a cover version of the
song “You’ll Never Walk Alone”, with the sale proceeds
going to the same charity. The single topped the UK music
charts and made Captain Tom the oldest person to have a
36
JUNE 2020
number one single!
Tom Moore was born on April 30, 1920. His parents
and family were local builders in Keighley, Yorkshire, where
he spent much of his life. He attended Keighley Grammar
School as a child, and later went on to complete an
apprenticeship as a Civil Engineer. But in 1940, aged 20 he
enlisted in the 8th Battalion Duke of Wellington’s Regiment
(8 DWR),
The Regiment was
stationed in Cornwall as part
of 203 Independent Infantry
Brigade (Home) to defend
the coast as the threat of a
German invasion. He was
selected for officer training
in 1940 and posted to an
Officers Training Unit (OTU)
before being commissioned
as a Second Lieutenant on 28
June 1941.
In November 1941 8 DWR
was re-rolled as an armoured
regiment 145 Regiment Royal
Armoured Corps (RAC). All
personnel continued to wear their DWR cap badge but
on the RAC black beret. Later, Tom Morre was transferred
to 9 DWR , which left Liverpool for India on August 28,
1941 arriving in Bombay on October 25, 1941, then, on
November 1, 1941 it was re-rolled as 146 Regiment RAC
and drew its first three Valentine tanks. By October 1942