Captain Tom Moore

In February 2021, Lake District brand Herdy made him a "Herdy Hero" and created a free poster that people can download with one of his sayings on it.

Moore was admitted to Bedford Hospital on 12 January 2021. He was diagnosed with pneumonia and treated. Ten days later he was discharged to his home in Marston Moretaine. Both before and during his stay in hospital, Moore was tested regularly for COVID-19. On the day of his discharge, 22 January, he first tested positive for the coronavirus. He remained at home for the following nine days while receiving care and treatment. Having difficulty in breathing, Moore was re-admitted to Bedford Hospital on 31 January with COVID-19 and pneumonia. He died on 2 February, aged 100. His funeral took place on 27 February. Moore asked that "My Way" by Frank Sinatra be played at his funeral and that his epitaph should read: "I told you I was old", in reference to comedian Spike Milligan's epitaph "I told you I was ill". The guard of honour arrived on a pair of vintage double-decker buses, including members of the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway, Keighley Cougars Rugby Club and the Bangladeshi Community Association.

The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, called Moore "a hero in the truest sense of the word" and praised him for both his military service and fundraising efforts. Johnson also announced that the flags above 10 and 11 Downing Street would be flown at half-mast as a sign of respect. Johnson also appealed to the country to join the national clap for Moore at 6 pm on 3 February 2021.

On 27 February 2021, Moore's funeral was held, and he was cremated. Six members of the Yorkshire Regiment, of which Moore was a member, carried his coffin, with an honour guard of 14 firing three volleys and a World War II-era Douglas C-47 Dakota, part of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, performing a fly-past. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, only eight members of his immediate family attended, but it was televised. The service also featured Moore's recording of 'You'll Never Walk Alone', Vera Lynn's anthem "White Cliffs of Dover" and Michael Bublé's rendition of "Smile"'. His family said that once COVID-19 restrictions allow, Moore's ashes would be interred in the Moore family plot in Yorkshire. This was done on 5 July 2021; the epitaph on his gravestone was "I told you I was old", a reference to the epitaph of Spike Milligan.

At a press conference to mark his own 61st birthday on 19 February 2021, Naruhito, the Japanese Emperor, spoke of Captain Tom's achievements and words as one of the things that had impressed him over the past year.

On 2 June 2021, Paradox Interactive added Moore as a military leader in their grand strategy game Hearts of Iron IV.

On 6 April 2020, at the age of 99, Moore began to walk 100 lengths of his garden in aid of NHS Charities Together, with the goal of raising £1,000 by his 100th birthday on 30 April. In the 24-day course of his fundraising, he made many media appearances and became a popular household name in the UK, earning a number of accolades and attracting over 1.5 million individual donations. In recognition of his efforts, he received the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Helen Rollason Award at the 2020 ceremony. He performed in a cover version of the song "You'll Never Walk Alone" sung by Michael Ball, with proceeds going to the same charity. The single topped the UK music charts, making him the oldest person to achieve a UK number one.

On the morning of Moore's 100th birthday, the total raised by his walk passed £30 million, and by the time the campaign closed at the end of that day had increased to over £32.79 million (worth almost £39 million with expected tax rebates). His birthday was marked in a number of ways, including flypasts by the Royal Air Force and the British Army. He received over 150,000 cards, and was appointed as honorary colonel of the Army Foundation College. On 17 July 2020, he was personally knighted by the Queen at Windsor Castle. He died on 2 February 2021, at Bedford Hospital, where he was taken after being treated for pneumonia and then testing positive for COVID-19.

On 6 April 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, and with his 100th birthday approaching, Moore began a fundraising campaign for NHS Charities Together, a group of charities supporting staff, volunteers and patients in the British National Health Service (NHS). He aimed to complete one hundred 25-metre (27-yard) lengths of his garden, ten lengths per day, with the help of a walking frame, branding the endeavour "Tom's 100th Birthday Walk for the NHS".

By 20 April, more than 800,000 people had signed a petition calling for Moore to be knighted. Late on 19 May, it was announced that he was to be made a Knight Bachelor following a special nomination by the Prime Minister. The knighthood is part of the 2020 Special Honours, and was conferred on 20 May. The investiture, by Elizabeth II, took place outdoors, in the quadrangle at Windsor Castle, on 17 July; Moore was the only person honoured at the ceremony, and it was the Queen's first official engagement in person since the start of the COVID-19 lockdown. She used the sword that had belonged to her father George VI. On 7 September, Sir Gary Hickinbottom, the Knight Principal of the Imperial Society of Knights Bachelor presented the Knight Bachelor's Certificate (the official documentation of a Knight Bachelor) to Moore at his home, and gave him the ISKB's official Neck Tie. At the same ceremony, Robert Pooley, the CEO of Pooley Sword, presented him with a Knight Bachelor's Sword.

Cranfield University, near Moore's home in Bedfordshire, awarded him an Honorary Doctorate of Science. It was presented to him by Baroness Young, Chancellor of the university, and Sir Peter Gregson, Vice-Chancellor, in a video call. He was awarded the Honorary degree of Doctor of the University (D.Univ) by the University of Bradford as part of their 2020 Graduation Ceremonies. In July, Moore became the first member and captain of the Football Association and England National Football Team's Lionhearts squad. This honour was presented by former England captain David Beckham.

In November 2020, British GQ magazine named Moore its "Inspiration of the Year" as part of its Men of the Year edition. Moore also appeared on the front cover of the magazine, making him the oldest cover star in the magazine's history.

Royal Mail announced that all stamped post between 26 April and 1 May would be postmarked "Happy 100th Birthday Captain Thomas Moore NHS fundraising hero 30th April 2020". Royal Mail also celebrated his birthday by painting a postbox, near his home, the shade of blue used by the NHS, with a golden balloon and inscription on the side.

In December 2020, Moore and his family took a holiday to Barbados after British Airways paid for his flight.

A charitable foundation bearing Moore's name was established in June of 2020, its declared aim being to recognise and raise money for organisations supporting the elderly in the UK. Moore's daughter, Hannah Ingram-Moore, and her husband became trustees of the charity in February of 2021. The British media reported in June 2022 that the Charity Commission would investigate the foundation due to questions regarding its financial relationship to members of the Ingram-Moore family.

A mural was created, in honour of Moore, in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, in April 2020. Moore was among a number of subjects for graffiti art created by Pontefract artist Rachel List. On 30 April 2020, a 12-foot-high (3.7-metre) mural, by newsagent and artist Paul Cable, on the wall of a popular restaurant in Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, was unveiled as a tribute to Moore on his 100th birthday.

In May 2020 he inspired Russian veteran Zinaida Korneeva to raise funds to support doctors, affected by COVID-19, and the project "Appeal to Tom Moore" was launched.

In September 2020, it was announced that a biopic of Moore's life was being produced by Fred Films and Powder Keg Pictures. Upon hearing the announcement, Moore commented: "I don't know of any 100-year-old actors, but I'm sure Michael Caine or Anthony Hopkins could do a wonderful job if they were prepared to age up!". The film is being produced and written by Nick Moorcroft and Meg Leonard.

A depiction of Moore featured in the 2020–21 New Year's Eve fireworks display in London, set to the Jess Glynne song "I'll Be There".

In 2018, he received treatment from the NHS, for a broken hip, broken rib, punctured lung and other serious injuries, following a fall. He was still recovering from these injuries when he started his fund-raising walk. The same year, he was also treated for melanoma of the head. In addition, Moore had a hip replacement and a double knee replacement. His great-nephew is a paediatric junior doctor at East Surrey Hospital.

On 16 April, after Moore's 100th length, a UK Government spokesman said "the Prime Minister will certainly be looking at ways to recognise Tom's heroic efforts." Brigadier Andrew Jackson, Colonel of the Yorkshire Regiment, described Moore as "an absolute legend [from] an exceptional generation that are still an inspiration for our Yorkshire soldiers today." Via video link, Moore was guest of honour at, and opened, the NHS Nightingale Hospital Yorkshire and the Humber, in Harrogate, on 21 April.

To mark Moore's 100th length, the singer Michael Ball sang "You'll Never Walk Alone" for him live on BBC Breakfast. Within 24 hours, the performance was made into a digital single featuring the NHS Voices of Care Choir, and Moore's spoken words. Released by Decca Records, on 17 April, with all proceeds going to NHS Charities Together, the recording topped the United Kingdom's "The Official Big Top 40" chart. It sold almost 36,000 copies in its first 48 hours, and was the "biggest trending song" as measured by the Official Charts Company. On 24 April, it went straight to number 1 in the weekly "Official" UK Singles Chart, making Moore the oldest person to achieve that position and meaning that he was at number 1 on his 100th birthday, and became a one-hit wonder.

Moore's bid to reach number 1 was boosted when his leading competitor, the then-current number 1 act The Weeknd, asked people via Twitter to support Moore and make him number 1 for his 100th birthday. The Weeknd's song, "Blinding Lights", duly dropped to number 2.

On his 100th birthday, he was also named a "Point of Light" by the Prime Minister. In early May, he was awarded a gold Blue Peter badge, the highest accolade issued by the BBC Television children's programme. Keighley Town Council stated that they would grant Moore the Freedom of Keighley. On 12 May, he was granted the Freedom of the City of London, via a video call.

Over a week before Moore's 100th birthday, so many cards had been sent to him that Royal Mail had had to introduce dedicated sorting facilities and around 20 volunteers were recruited to open and display them, at the local Bedford School. By his birthday, over 150,000 cards had been received.

Instead of the standard 100th birthday message from Queen Elizabeth II, he received a personalised card, presented in person by the Lord Lieutenant of Bedfordshire, Helen Nellis.

He achieved his target of one hundred lengths on the morning of 16 April, watched at a safe distance by a guard of honour from the 1st Battalion of the Yorkshire Regiment, the regiment into which the DWR were merged in 2006. He said he would not stop, and aimed to do a second hundred.

He was later appointed general manager of Cawoods Concrete Products Ltd., manufacturing concrete pipes in March, Cambridgeshire, with a view to restoring it to profitability or closing it down, after its owners had failed to find a buyer. Moore led a management buyout in 1983, with the assistance of local Member of Parliament Clement Freud, who also became an investor in the renamed March Concrete Products Ltd. The company traded successfully for several years until market conditions and technical issues forced the investors to sell it to Amalgamated Roadstone Corporation in 1987.

He was a contestant in the Christmas Day 1983 edition of the BBC Television game show Blankety Blank.

For 65 years, Moore organised the annual reunion for the 9th Battalion veterans.

Moore first married in 1949 to a woman who was known as "Billie". The marriage was never consummated and was subsequently annulled. In January 1968, he married Pamela, fifteen years his junior. They had two daughters: Hannah and Lucy. When Moore was working at Cawoods and then March Concrete, the family lived in Welney in Norfolk. The couple retired to the Costa del Sol, Spain, but returned when Pamela developed a form of dementia. She spent her last years in a nursing home, where Moore would visit her every day. She died in 2006. Moore lived with his younger daughter, her husband, and two grandchildren, in Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire, from 2008 until his death. He also had two other grandchildren.

Moore was officially demobilised in October 1946. After leaving the army at 26 years old, he joined the family building company, the name of which was altered to W. Moore & Son (Builders) Ltd. In 1960 he took a job as a traveling salesman for a roofing materials company called Nuralite in Gravesend, Kent. Seven years later he became regional manager, for the north of England and Northern Ireland, for the company.

As part of the Fourteenth Army, the so-called "Forgotten Army", he served in Arakan in western Burma (now Myanmar) – where he survived dengue fever. 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 the end of the War. He was demobilised in 1946.

He was promoted to war-substantive lieutenant on 1 October 1942 and to temporary captain on 11 October 1944.

On 22 October 1941, Moore became a member of the Royal Armoured Corps. This was because 8 DWR became an armoured unit designated as the 145th Regiment Royal Armoured Corps. Later that year, he was transferred to the 9th Battalion (9 DWR) in India, which had converted to become the 146th Regiment Royal Armoured Corps. While in India, he was tasked with setting up and running a training programme for army motorcyclists. He was initially posted to Bombay (now Mumbai) and subsequently to Calcutta (now Kolkata).

Moore was conscripted in the 8th Battalion, Duke of Wellington's Regiment (8 DWR) in June 1940, stationed at Weston Park in Otley, nine months after the beginning of the Second World War. He was selected for officer training later that year, and attended an Officer Cadet Training Unit before being commissioned as a second lieutenant on 28 June 1941.

Moore raced motorcycles competitively – he purchased his first when he was 12 and wore the number 23. He rode a Scott motorcycle, winning several trophies. Moore was a member of the Keighley and District Photographic Association between 1934 and 1936, as his father had also been.

On 23 April, he was given a Pride of Britain award in recognition of his efforts, after "thousands of nominations" were received. He was appointed the first Honorary Colonel of the Army Foundation College in Harrogate, Yorkshire, a training centre for soldiers under 18, on his 100th birthday. When acting in that capacity, he was addressed as "Colonel Tom". He also received the York Medal for his "outstanding contribution to our military effectiveness and military reputation". He made his first visit to the college on 10 September, when he was Chief Inspecting Officer at their annual graduation parade.

Captain Sir Thomas Moore (30 April 1920 – 2 February 2021), more popularly known as Captain Tom, was a British Army officer and fundraiser who made international headlines in 2020 when he raised money for charity in the run-up to his 100th birthday during the COVID-19 pandemic. He served in India and the Burma campaign during the Second World War, and later became an instructor in armoured warfare. After the war, he worked as managing director of a concrete company and was an avid motorcycle racer.

Moore was born in Keighley, West Riding of Yorkshire, England, on 30 April 1920 and grew up in the town. He was the son of Isabella (née Hird) and Wilson "Wilfred" Moore. His father was from a family of builders, and his mother was a head teacher. Moore was educated at Keighley Grammar School and started an apprenticeship in civil engineering.