‘Conscription did not do me any harm,’ Capt Tom tells documentary
Captain Tom Moore has told the story of his part in the Second World War in a new documentary, saying conscription “didn’t do me any harm at all”.
The veteran has become a national hero by walking 100 laps of his garden before his 100th birthday, raising more than £32 million for the NHS.
He has recounted his wartime memories in an ITV documentary on VE Day, airing today, called Captain Tom’s War.
He shares his bittersweet memories of VE Day, having returned to the UK to work as a tank instructor while his friends were still fighting in the Far East.
It was another three months until Japan’s surrender on 15 August 1945.
He also recalled how Forces Sweetheart Dame Vera Lynn helped lift spirits with a performance for troops while he was in Burma.
The Yorkshireman was 20 when he was conscripted into the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment in 1940.
He was posted to India the next year, later moving to the jungles of Burma.
“Being conscripted didn’t do me any harm at all,” said Captain Tom. “The reason for conscription was that the country had got desperately short of soldiers.
“I didn’t mind at all. I mean, at 20 you don’t think too hard about it, I thought, ‘Oh great, it’s going to be great’.”
He said that in Burma there were spiders “like the palm of your hand”, he got dengue fever – a viral infection spread by mosquitoes – and the Japanese fighters were “quite a formidable force”.
“I was only 21 or 22,” he said. “You don’t get very frightened at 22.”
His role during the Burma campaign was to ride to the front on a motorcycle when tanks could not get there.
He recalled Dame Vera, whose songs include We’ll Meet Again and The White Cliffs Of Dover, lifting spirits.
“She did a little song for us, so it really boosted the morale of everybody,” he said. “She was great.”
Dame Vera told the programme: “Burma was a special time for me and one that I will never forget.
“I was well protected by all the boys and never felt frightened.
“It was so good to help them feel that they were not so far away from home.”
Captain Tom said he “wasn’t all that happy” on VE Day “because all my friends were still out in the Far East, still fighting”.
“They didn’t have a day off for VE Day. They were still fighting. I was a little bit unhappy about that bit.”
Captain Tom’s War airs on ITV at 8pmtonight.