Captain Tom Moore has train named after him ahead of big birthday
A train has been named after Bedfordshire war veteran Captain Tom Moore in honour of his remarkable fundraising efforts for the NHS.
Captain Moore, who celebrates his 100th birthday on Thursday, has raised an astonishing £29m for NHS Charities Together by walking laps around his garden at his home in Marston Moretaine near Bedford.
The Great Western Railway (GWR) intercity express train 800025 will go into service carrying its new name on Captain Tom's birthday.
GWR said the train will carry key workers to and from work and was named after members of the public requested it.
"With his indomitable spirit, what Captain Tom has achieved is truly inspirational and an example to us all," Interim managing director Matthew Golton said.
"We at Great Western have a long history of naming trains after Great Westerners, the past and present heroes from across our network, and I am honoured that today we can respond to requests to have a train named after Captain Tom Moore."
It's already been announced that Captain Tom's birthday will be marked with an RAF flypast, and a special Royal Mail postmark has also been produced.
More than 125,000 birthday cards have been sent to his local post office in Marston Moretaine, as well as donations totalling in excess of £60,000.
Such has been the demand that volunteers have been drafted in to help open and display the cards at Bedford School, and the WWE have even made a personalised championship belt for him.
Great Western Railway has even created a tuneful toast to wish Captain Tom a happy 100th birthday:
How can you wish Captain Tom a happy birthday?
ITV News Anglia has been with Captain Tom's story since the beginning and we'd like to pay special tribute to him with the help of our audience.
If it's your birthday this Thursday and you're celebrating with Tom, give him a message and send it to us at anglianews@itv.com.
We're looking for video clips so we can put them on our programme. Please attach a video file shot in the landscape mode - and we'll help you celebrate with Tom.