WWII plane fly-past honors Captain Tom Moore at funeral

Source: AP

By SYLVIA HUI

LONDON (AP) — Church bells rang out and a World War II-era plane flew Saturday over the funeral service of Captain Tom Moore to honor of the veteran who single-handedly raised millions of pounds for Britain’s health workers by walking laps in his backyard.

Soldiers performed ceremonial duties at the private service for Moore, who died Feb. 2 at age 100 after testing positive for COVID-19. Captain Tom, as he became known, inspired the U.K. during the first months of the coronavirus pandemic with his humble endeavor that raised almost 33 million pounds ($46 million) for Britain’s National Health Service last year.

The private service was small, attended by just eight members of the veteran’s immediate family. But soldiers carried his coffin, draped in the Union flag, from the hearse to a crematorium and formed a ceremonial guard. Others performed a gun salute before a C-47 Dakota military transport plane flew past.

“Daddy, you always told us ‘Best foot forward’ and true to your word, that’s what you did last year,” Moore’s daughter Lucy Teixeira said at the service. “I know you will be watching us chuckling, saying ‘Don’t be too sad as something has to get you in the end.’”



The coffin of Captain Sir Tom Moore is carried by members of the Armed Forces during his funeral, at Bedford Crematorium, in Bedford, England, Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021. Tom Moore, the 100-year-old World War II veteran who captivated the British public in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic with his fundraising efforts died, Tuesday Feb. 2, 2021. (Joe Giddens/Pool Photo via AP)


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/walking-michael-buble-health-india-coronavirus-pandemic-b502f1a556e9e762450676cab1fc3cd0