Flags are flown at half mast across Britain ahead of funeral for Captain Tom Moore

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Captain Sir Tom Moore’s daughter paid a heartfelt tribute to him at a small family funeral service this afternoon as the nation said goodbye to the NHS fundraising hero. 

Lucy Teixeira laughed as she recalled how her father talked to her about concrete pipes to help calm her wedding-day jitters and recalled the day Captain Tom lost his wife – the same day he had taken his grandson to see the type of tank he had served in during the war at a military museum.

The veteran’s funeral took place at Bedford Crematorium and opened with the rendition of You’ll Never Walk Alone that he recorded with Michael Ball and the NHS Voices of Care Choir that reached number one last year. 

His funeral was attended by eight members of his immediate family – his two daughters Hannah Ingram-Moore and Lucy, four grandchildren and his sons-in-law. 

In a Twitter post on Captain Tom’s account, his family said they would be enjoying tea and cake following his funeral: ‘Today we celebrate the life of our hero. We will be following Captain Tom’s wishes by enjoying a cup of tea and a slice of Victoria sponge cake. Please join us as we raise a cup to him.’

Speaking at the service, Lucy said: ‘We often talked about milestones in your life and laughed about the possibility of you reaching your 100th birthday. You said ‘it’s just a number, I don’t feel any different’ and right to the end you ignored the number and kept on going, urging us all to keep on going with the mantra ‘tomorrow will be a good day’.

‘You have always influenced me with your strength, your energy, your drive, to get out of bed with a spring in your step and a purpose in mind. I know you will be watching us chuckling, saying ‘don’t be too sad as something has to get you in the end’.

‘Daddy, I am so proud of you, what you achieved your whole life and especially in the last year, you may be gone, but your message and your spirit lives on.’ 

Hannah Ingram-Moore said in her eulogy: ‘We had the happiness of a stable family life, peppered with the excitement of intrepid camping trips across Europe which gave our young minds a window on the world that you said was our oyster to open.’

She described her father moving in with them after her mother’s death as ‘the most amazing, multi-generational life journey, thriving on the wealth of knowledge and the knowledge we in turn gave to you’.

Ms Ingram-Moore added: ‘Your relationship with (your grandchildren) was a constant remember of how lucky we were to have you as a father and of that special bond we have.’

She continued: ‘We know, because you told everyone who would listen, that you relished this next phase of your life. We respected your values, your independence and your space, and you did the same for us, we felt your love and we know you felt our love for you.’ 

Captain Tom’s Union Jack-draped coffin was carried into a crematorium by six soldiers from the Yorkshire Regiment ahead of his funeral service.  

The C-47 Dakota, a Second World War-era plane and part of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight which operates from RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire, performed a fly-pass ahead of a three-round gun salute by a 14-strong firing party before the coffin was carried into the building.

The pallbearers were led by Regimental Sgt Maj Jamie Pearson, who was in charge of the guard of honour on Captain Tom’s 100th birthday — the day he finished his walk.  

War hero Captain Tom inspired countless people across the globe by valiantly raising more than £32million for the NHS at the height of the pandemic last year by doing 100 laps of his garden. He died on February 2 after a battle with coronavirus and pneumonia. 

 

Grandson Benjie said: ‘If there is a lesson I have learned from living with you the last 13 years, it’s the power of positivity and kindness, I truly do not believe I would be the person I am today without your sound guidance.

‘Our chats mid-afternoon that were only supposed to last a few minutes quickly turned into hour-long conversations, quickly delving into so many thought-provoking avenues. These are memories I will never forget and ones I am incredibly grateful to have.

‘I can’t imagine how many pieces of my sports equipment would have stayed broken without your ever-trusted super glue.

‘I suppose the tables turned in the later years when so often it was Georgia or me fixing something on your phone.’

He continued: ‘Growing up with you every day, the smell of porridge as I came downstairs was almost a sign to know everything was okay.’

Benjie added that his grandfather sneaking leftovers to the dogs ‘filled the morning with more than a bit of joy’.

A number of special items were placed on Captain Tom’s coffin, including a replica of his service cap from the Second World War and a wreath from the Yorkshire Regiment.

Also among the items are his campaign medals, including the Burma Star, and his knighthood medal stitched on to a cushion. There was also a specially commissioned sword engraved with the motto of the Yorkshire Regiment on one side – ‘Fortune favours the brave’.

Engraved on the other side is his own personal motto, ‘Tomorrow will be a good day’. 

The celebrant conducting the funeral of Captain Tom read the poem A Happy Man by Edwin Arlington Robinson, which features the words: ‘Children that I leave behind, And their children, all were kind; Near to them and to my wife; I was happy all my life.’ 

The celebrant added: ‘It’s quite incredible to think that 163 countries donated to (Sir Tom’s) fundraiser – that’s almost the whole world. As wonderful as we think our NHS is, people from other countries really aren’t going to be interested in our health, so it seems obvious to me that they were really investing in Captain Tom and the values he stood for.

‘He was a proud British veteran and a gentleman, he lived in a multi-generational environment, not only would that have kept him young, but also symbolises the importance of family to him.

‘What sacrifices did he and his peers make in defence of our freedom, a man with a strong moral compass, a strong work ethic, a sense of pride and an indomitable spirit. He serves as an inspiration to us all to never give up and always stay strong knowing tomorrow will be a better day.’

Once lockdown restrictions are eased his ashes will be interred in Keighley, Yorkshire, where he will rest with his parents and grandparents in the Moore family plot. 

Flags across the country were flown at half mast this morning as the nation prepared to say goodbye to the NHS fundraising hero with an RAF flypast and a gun salute. 

Emotional crowds lining the route of the funeral procession were pictured in tears as the hearse passed them on the way to the crematorium. The deputy Lord Lieutenant of West Yorkshire, David Pearson, laid a wreath in Keighley – Captain Tom’s birthplace – on behalf of the Queen.   

His daughter Lucy Teixeira revealed the funeral will be ‘quite spectacular’ with Captain Tom planning the service himself. 

During the Second World War, Captain Tom served with the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment which later merged with two others from Yorkshire. It became known as the Yorkshire Regiment, which Captain Tom was made an Honorary Colonel of last August.

Singer Michael Buble has recorded a version of the song Smile to be played at the funeral. The charity single Captain Tom recorded with Michael Ball, You’ll Never Walk Alone, will also be played, along with The White Cliffs Of Dover by Dame Vera Lynn, I Vow To Thee My Country by Alife Boe and My Way by Frank Sinatra. 

The deputy Lord Lieutenant of West Yorkshire, David Pearson, laid a wreath in Keighley on behalf of the Queen which featured 200 white roses around a picture of the late record-breaking fundraiser.

Wreaths of poppies were also laid by local MP Robbie Moore and the town’s mayor and mayoress, Peter Corkindale and Clare Abberton. 

Captain Tom was made an honorary freeman of Keighley last summer when he said ‘it really is great to be back’ as he watched a plaque unveiled in his honour.

Meanwhile, hundreds of bellringers across the UK will remember Captain Tom at 12 noon by tolling a single bell 100 times. 

A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence said: ‘It is an honour to be asked to undertake such a prominent role.’

Amid the pandemic only eight family members will attend and police have urged the public to stay away from the area.  A flypast will be shown on BBC and Sky TV. 

Captain Tom died on February 2 at Bedford Hospital after contracting pneumonia and coronavirus. 

His daughter Ms Teixeira, 52, said the service will 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 Ms 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.

‘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 well-wishers, and that it was ‘wonderful’ to see people writing in an online book of condolence.

His family revealed Captain Tom had written about his funeral in a book before his death, saying he wanted it to end with Frank Sinatra’s My Way ‘because I always did things my way and especially like the line about having too few regrets to mention’. 

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

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

Earlier this week, Ms Ingram-Moore said her father Captain Tom had set out his requests in a ‘lovely’ and ‘open’ conversation prior to his death. 

She said the national treasure had wanted Victoria sponge cakes and sandwiches at his wake and had asked for his ashes to be taken to the family grave in his beloved Yorkshire. 

Speaking in a heartwarming interview with Good Morning Britain, Ms Ingram-Moore said: ‘Of course, he was older so the concept of talking about death was a real one.

‘But we had a lovely conversation in his kitchen and I said to him the thought of a very quiet funeral might not cut it and that people might be quite interested, and he said in his Yorkshire accent ‘Do you think so?’.

‘And so I asked him what he wanted and his wishes were really clear, he said he would like to be cremated and his ashes taken to the family grave in Yorkshire.

‘He was very descriptive about the songs he wanted to be played and he wanted us to eat Victoria sponge cakes and sandwiches after, and was so glad he didn’t have to make them.’

Ms Ingram-Moore also revealed her father had asked to have ‘I told you I was old’ engraved on his headstone in tribute to a joke by his favourite comic growing up. 

The witty line is inspired by comedian Spike Milligan’s famous epitaph ‘I told you I was ill’, which he said had ‘always made me laugh’. 

‘Like me, he fought in the Second World War, but was wounded in Italy. When he died at the age of 83, he wrote his own epitaph, which was engraved in Gaelic on his headstone. It reads: ‘I told you I was ill’.

‘This always made me laugh, so I think I’d ask for the simple inscription of my name, the dates of my earthly span, and the words: ‘I told you I was old’.’ 

Captain Tom’s family have said his funeral would be a ‘small’ private service as they urged the public to stay at home.   

In his not-yet-published book, Captain Tom added that it was ‘odd and rather touching to think that people might weep over my passing – strangers I’ve never even met’ and that he would want to look down and ‘chuckle at everyone making a lot of fuss over me’.

The family said Captain Tom had openly spoken about his funeral over the past year and had wondered if ‘perhaps the interest in him over the last 12 months would mean we would need to have more Victoria sponge cakes available for the extra guests’. 

He captured the hearts of Britain with his fundraising during the first lockdown when he walked 100 laps of his Bedfordshire garden before his 100th birthday.

The family will inter Captain Tom’s ashes in Yorkshire, with his parents and grandparents in the Moore family plot, once this is permitted by eased coronavirus restrictions.

Captain Tom’s family said they understood that so many people wanted to pay their respects, but urged the public to ‘continue to support the NHS by staying at home’.

They added that they had set up an online book of condolence and people could also donate to The Captain Tom Foundation or plant a tree in his memory.

Captain Tom’s family said he had also spent ‘many enjoyable hours’ in the final few months of his life writing Captain Tom’s Life Lessons.

He wanted to release this just before his 101st birthday, but his relatives said the final chapter was ‘so poignant and reading it brings us so much comfort and warmth’.

They are therefore sharing the last chapter ‘as a thank you, from our father Tom and us as a family, for the love and kindness the nation and the world have shown him’. 

In the chapter, Captain Tom writes: ‘Previously, my funeral would have made one little line in the local newspaper and been attended by only a handful of people, but I expect there’ll be a few more now.

‘Someone will have to make extra cake and sandwiches, and it won’t be me.

‘I want the service to end with My Way by Frank Sinatra because I always did things my way and especially like the line about having too few regrets to mention. 

‘It’s odd and rather touching to think that people might weep over my passing – strangers I’ve never even met.

‘If I can, I’d like to watch my own funeral from a distance.

‘That would be quite the joke as I looked down and chuckled at everyone making a lot of fuss over me.’

He said he wished to be cremated and for his ashes to be taken to Yorkshire, but would not mind a ‘little white headstone somewhere to mark my existence, a bit like the ones they have in military cemeteries’.

He said for his epitaph he would ask for the ‘simple inscription of my name, the dates of my earthly span, and the words: ‘I told you I was old” – in reference to comedian Spike Milligan’s famous epitaph ‘I told you I was ill’. 

Shortly after his death earlier this month, Ms Teixeira said Captain Tom would have a ‘quiet’ send-off and the family was planning an understated funeral that would be ‘suitable’ for him. 

She said at the time: ‘At the moment, my sister Hannah and I are planning a careful send-off that is suitable to him, quite quiet in a manner that he would say to us ‘well done, girls’.

‘I know that there are things being talked about, but my sister and I are focusing on planning the next stage and celebrating the end of his life.’ 

Last week, Mrs Ingram-Moore revealed the family received a ‘lovely letter from the Queen’ following his death, adding that the monarch felt ‘genuine loss’.

She said the Queen and her father were ‘two similar souls’ and would have probably had ‘a cup of tea and had a good chin wag’ after he was knighted last year, if it wasn’t for the pandemic.

Buckingham Palace paid a personal tribute following his death, with a spokesman saying the Queen’s thoughts were with his family – and the flag at Number 10 was lowered to half-mast.

Captain Tom, from Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire, was knighted by the 94-year-old Queen in a unique outdoor ceremony at Windsor Castle on July 17. 

As well as being knighted, Captain Tom was made an honorary colonel and an honorary member of the England cricket team.

Mrs Ingram-Moore also said last week how Captain Tom’s heart would have been ‘broken’ to hear about trolling the family received.

Speaking about her father’s days in hospital and their final family holiday to the Caribbean, she said she could not tell her father ‘people are hating us’ after his mammoth fundraising efforts.

She told BBC Breakfast: ‘I couldn’t tell him. I think it would have broken his heart, honestly, if we’d said to him people are hating us. 

‘Because how do you rationalise to a 100-year-old man that something so incredibly good can attract such horror?

‘So we contained it within the four of us and we said we wouldn’t play to […] that vile minority, we wouldn’t play to them, we’re not, because we are talking to the massive majority of people who we connect with.’

Mrs Ingram-Moore also said her father had wanted to come home to steak and chips after he was admitted to hospital with coronavirus.

She said: ‘I said to him in the last few days: ‘So, what do you want to eat when you come home?’ And we decided it was steak and chips.

‘He was really excited about coming out for steak and chips and getting his frame back outside and his walker.

‘The last real conversation was positive and about carrying on, and that’s a lovely place to be.’

Mrs Ingram-Moore said that when Captain Tom went into hospital, the family ‘really all believed he’d come back out’. 

‘We thought the oxygen would help, that he would be robust enough, (but) the truth is he just wasn’t. He was old and he just couldn’t fight it,’ she added.

Before he died, the centenarian got to tick a holiday in the Caribbean off his bucket list when the family travelled to Barbados just before Christmas.

‘It was just amazing,’ Mrs Ingram-Moore said. 

‘He sat in 29 degrees outside, he read two novels, he read the newspapers every day, and we sat and we talked as a family, we went to restaurants (because we could there) and he ate fish on the beach and what a wonderful thing to do. I think we were all so pleased we managed to give him that.’