It is his first trip to Barbados and British World War II veteran, Captain Sir Tom Moore is having a good time.
The 100-year-old was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II after raising over £32M for National Health Service (NHS) charities this year.
Yesterday, he attended Afternoon Tea at the Barbados Defence Force’s (BDF) headquarters with Governor General, Her Excellency Dame Sandra Mason. He was accompanied by his daughter, Hannah and her husband, Colin Ingram as well as their children, Benjee and Georgia.
Other specially invited guests in attendance were 101-year-old, Elder Bishop who is a retired Warrant Officer Class 2 and 103-year-old, Ena Collymore-Woodstock who worked as a radar operator during World War II.
Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs, Cynthia Forde, Minister of Home Affairs, Information and Public Affairs, Wilfred Abrahams, BDF’s Chief of Staff, Colonel Glyne Grannum, Deputy High Commissioner to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, Craig Fulton and the Director of the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc.’s UK Officer, Cheryl Carter were also present.
During the event, the People Empowerment and Elder Affairs Minister presented a gift to Sir Tom on behalf of Barbados. Meanwhile, his daughter and granddaughter presented copies of his autobiography to the Governor General, to Bishop and to Collymore-Woodstock.
The evening was kept lively by the BDF’s band who played selected local hits.
Speaking to the media, Sir Tom said, “I’ve had an enormously good time so far. It has been a privilege and a great honour to be here and I am enjoying every minute of it.”
He further stated he was pleased to meet and interact with other veterans who also served in World War II. He described this experience as “quite interesting”.
“Time flies and once you are in the war you don’t think about it. But the very fact that I have met some people who have been there as well, that was a great pleasure and I am delighted to see all of them and how they are still here.”(MG)
