Captain Tom Moore says he’s not scared of dying if he catches coronavirus

Captain Tom Moore dismissed any suggestion he was afraid of dying if he caught coronavirus and insisted he wanted to visit India again as well as drive Route 66 in America.

In the build-up to his 100th birthday on April 30, Captain Tom came to national attention by raising more than £33million for NHS Charities Together through walking 100 laps of his garden.

From that, the World War II veteran has topped the charts with a cover of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’, been made an honorary colonel and received 150,000 birthday cards.

Yet, on the possibility of contracting the virus, Captain Tom told The Times: ‘If I get it, I get it, I’m not worried at all. You have endless chances of dying, in the end everyone has a turn, it has to happen sometime.’

In fact, Captain Tom still has an extensive list of places he wants to visit in the world, covering everywhere from Asia to America and including a return to India where he served as an engineer during World War II.

He said: ‘I would like to go back to India again and Barbados I think, and maybe the Continent. Being realistic I don’t think I will get to all the places. But I would love to travel on Route 66 in America.’  

On suddenly achieving widespread fame during his later years, Captain Tom admitted it had come as a surprise. On why it happened to him, he suggested it was because he remained positive.

Captain Tom said: ‘I don’t really understand how it all happened, except I’m seen as being a hopeful person and it’s true I’ve never despaired, even in wartime, I’ve always known that things would get better. Just like now, we are going through a dark patch but things will improve.’

He added: ‘I never anticipated I would ever be a celebrity, I didn’t really understand what they were.

‘I think the only celebrity I’ve met was Dame Vera Lynn, when I was posted to Burma. I saw her, she didn’t see me.’

Captain Tom has lived with his daughter, her husband, and hiss 11-year-old granddaughter for 11 years after his wife died in 2006 but still remains active and up until last year was still driving.

He also has big plans for when lockdown is lifted and he can go outside again.

‘I am going to walk around the streets and say hello to people. It was lovely when my regiment came for my birthday. The soldiers were all young men, the same age as me when I went to war. I wanted to chat more to them but they were worried for me. That was a good day. 

‘The fly-past was wonderful. They were flying past in peace not anger and it was in my benefit, I couldn’t believe it. I also loved my card from the Queen. She is a marvellous person. I remember when she and I were in the army together, and although she was quite a lot younger than me she was in the same uniform. That felt very uniting.’