Tom Moore was born on 30th April 1920. The radical Liberal, David Lloyd George who introduced National Insurance was prime minister––the only prime minister to have spoken Welsh as his first language. Woodrow Wilson was the president of America. The most viewed film that year was The Tollgate. In those days films were silent.
Tom was born in Keighley, Yorkshire, a mill and market town and the town has a rich railway heritage.
We mourn for the loss of Tom’s generation because they gave so much to us through their wisdom and endurance. Tom had led a very rich and full life. His death, while unpleasant, was as natural as the picking of a ripe apple or the falling of a brightly coloured leaf in autumn. The harvest has been gathered in, his journey ended, his story told. His life’s tasks have finished. But who would have imagined that at 99 as he embarked on a few steps to raise a small amount for the NHS, he had so much more to achieve?
While there is sadness in him leaving us, there is a sense of worth and achievement, so much so, that his death becomes a celebration.
In the 100 years that Tom Moore has lived, the world has moved at a fast pace from a time of limited opportunities to promised endless reinvention. We can fly across the world and to other planets, crack our own genetic code. Tom saw so much change over his life and wanted to be a part of change even towards the end.
Captain Tom Moore served in Burma during the Second World War. This was an Allied campaign to defeat the Japanese. When the Japanese entered the war in December 1941 her main aims were to acquire raw materials particularly oil, rubber and tin and to create space for their growing population on the over-crowded islands. Hong Kong and Indo-China fell to them without difficulty, but their greatest gains were in the Malay Peninsula. They invaded Burma for two reasons. They wanted to cut the supply route––over-land access to China from Burma, via the important Burma Road. Also, possession of Burma would put them at the gate of India, where they hoped there would be an insurrection and collapse of British power in India. The Japanese entered Burma from Thailand and quickly took Rangoon, cutting off the Burma Road.
Tom Moore’s strength of character, mind and body undoubtably came from his time in Burma. Fighting the Japanese who were a brutal enemy in an extreme terrain, in monsoon weather and intense heat with the threat of disease and appalling conditions. His paces last year in which he raised a staggering £32 million were nothing by comparison but a massive achievement given his age.
Tom Moore has become a national treasure, always raises a smile and he will remain a symbol of good during this pandemic.
