100th birthday with honorary military promotion to the rank of colonel for Tom Moore, the British war veteran able to inspire a record fundraising (about £ 30 million so far) for public health of the Kingdom (NHS) in the past few weeks taken with the coronavirus emergency.
Captain Tom, as he is now universally known, with the degree with which he ended his military career in the army of His Majesty, today turns the mark of the century of life among tens of thousands of messages and congratulations from the political leaders of the country, from the family real, by numerous celebrities and ordinary British and non-British people. The anniversary falls with a hard time for the Kingdom, which yesterday touched the official quota of over 26,000 deaths for Covid-19, the third country in absolute numbers after the US and Italy. But the celebrations of a man held up as an example are not lacking: in addition to the honorific promotion announced by General Mark Carleton-Smith, chief of staff of the army, a flight in his honor of an RAF patrol is scheduled.
The overflight was supposed to be a surprise, but it was confirmed yesterday by the Minister of Transport, Grant Shapps, in the face of media advances. It is scheduled on the sky of his home, in English Bedfordshire, where "Captain Tom" had initially launched his challenge of solidarity, committing himself to make 100 laps around his garden with the help of a walker with the aim of collecting 1000 pounds online. A commitment that has maintained and which has unleashed a millionaire race for generosity.
Greetings are coming to him in these hours among others from Prime Minister Boris Johnson, from the number two of the Dominic Raab government, from Prince Charles, heir to the throne, with his wife Camilla, from Prince William and from public figures including the captain of the England national football team Harry Kane.
Born in Yorkshire on 30 April 1920, a former career officer decorated during the Second World War (fought on the Asian front against the Japanese), Moore has meanwhile launched another initiative to support NHS: recording a cover of the singer with the singer Michael Ball the famous 'You'll Never Walk Alone', the proceeds of which are all intended for hospitals, and immediately conquering the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest interpreter ever to rise to number 1 of the British hit.
