Captain Sir Tom Moore’s funeral to get flypast by WWII plane

‘Legacy forest’ to be planted in memory of Captain Sir Tom Moore

SHARE

SHARE

TWEET

SHARE

EMAIL

Click to expand

It didn’t hurt at all – Queen on Covid jab Credit: Buckingham Palace The Queen has said her Covid-19 jab “didn’t hurt at all” as she encouraged those hesitant about vaccination to “think about other people rather than themselves”. No use after 30th June 2021. The head of state, who was inoculated in January, said after having the vaccine you felt “protected”, which she described as “important” during a video call with health leaders delivering the Covid-19 vaccine. When she was asked about her vaccination experience, she told the officials “it was quite harmless”. PA Media

Irish Paralympic archer training at home targets Tokyo Games A Paralympic hopeful has spoken of her plans to compete in this year’s Games in Tokyo after a year of adapting her training around coronavirus restrictions. Kerrie Leonard, an archer from Co Meath, hopes to qualify and represent Ireland in the Tokyo Paralympics later this year. The 30-year-old Paralympic athlete will travel to the qualifying round in the Czech Republic in July. PA Media

Coronavirus vaccine in numbers: 18.9 million receive first dose jab Government data up to February 24 shows that of the 18,911,978 jabs given in the UK so far, 18,691,835 were first doses – a rise of 448,962 on the previous day. PA Media

UP NEXT

(Video by Press Association)

A second world war-era plane will fly over Captain Sir Tom Moore’s funeral service in honour of the war veteran, who raised almost £39m for NHS charities during the first coronavirus lockdown.

The C-47 Dakota, part of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, which operates from RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire, will perform the flypast.

Moore, who died this month at the age of 100 after testing positive for coronavirus, will have his coffin carried by six soldiers from the Yorkshire Regiment. A firing party of 14 will each fire three rounds in unison, and a bugler will sound The Last Post at the end of the private service.

Six representatives from the Army Foundation College in Harrogate, where Sir Tom was made an honorary colonel, will then form a ceremonial guard.

© Provided by The Guardian Photograph: Dylan Martinez/Reuters

Gallery: Farewell Captain Sir Tom Moore – A National Treasure (Mirrorpix)

The defence secretary, Ben Wallace, said: “In national emergencies, ordinary people do extraordinary things and inspire us all to pull together to overcome adversity.

“Few will have heard of Sir Tom before this crisis but his contribution and example now live on in us all. The armed forces are immensely proud to contribute to the celebration of his extraordinary life of service.”

Moore was admitted to Bedford hospital on 31 January after having been treated for pneumonia for some time and testing positive for Covid-19 the week before.

His fundraising efforts during the first national lockdown in April raised £38.9m for NHS charities after his pledge to walk 100 laps of his garden before his 100th birthday captured the imagination of people around the world.

© Thomson Reuters A woman photographs a mural by the street artist ‘Humor’ dedicated to the late Captain Sir Tom Moore, amidst the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in London, Britain, February 5, 2021. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES

Moore served with the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment during the second world war. The regiment later merged with two others from Yorkshire, becoming the Yorkshire Regiment, and Moore was made an honorary colonel last August.

Moore’s funeral will be attended by eight members of his immediate family – his two daughters Hannah Ingram-Moore and Lucy Teixeira, four grandchildren and his sons-in-law.

His daughter Lucy Teixeira, 52, said the service would be “quite spectacular”, adding: “There’s just going to be the eight of us under full Covid restrictions, we will honour him the best way we possibly can.”

There are plans to plant trees around the world in his honour, with Teixeira hoping that the Trees for Tom initiative will result in a wood in his home county of Yorkshire and the reforestation of part of India, where he served during the second world war.

© Thomson Reuters Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson and partner Carrie Symonds applaud outside 10 Downing Street during a national clap for late Captain Sir Tom Moore and NHS workers, amidst the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in London, Britain, February 3, 2021. REUTERS/John Sibley

“My sister and I have been creating the funeral that my father wanted,” she said. “He was very clear in his wishes and if he could have been put into a cardboard box, he would have done that, rather than chop down a tree.”

She said she had received many messages from wellwishers, and that it was wonderful to see people writing in an online book of condolence.

Moore asked that My Way by Frank Sinatra be played at his funeral and that his epitaph reads “I told you I was old”, in reference to comedian Spike Milligan’s famous epitaph “I told you I was ill”.

The family has urged that people support the NHS by staying at home.

Once Covid-19 restrictions permit, they will inter his ashes in Yorkshire, with his parents and grandparents in the Moore family plot.