Captain Tom Moore was drafted into the British army in June 1940 at the age of 20, alongside all the men aged 20 to 35.
He began his military career in Otley, West Yorkshire, where he joined the 8th Battalion, the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment under Lieutenant Lord George Saville.
The regiment was dispatched to train at Wadebridge, Cornwall, where they were tasked with coastal defense in the midst of a planned German invasion.
A young Captain Moore was quickly promoted to corporal and sent to the officer training unit at Droitwich Spa.
Here he celebrated his 21st birthday after his death as a second lieutenant.
In August 1941, he was sent to DWR headquarters in Halifax where he joined the 9th Battalion at Winchcombe.
The infantry battalion then converted to an armored regiment 146th Royal Armored Corp, although the the majority of soldiers could not drive.
In October, the unit was posted to Bombay, now Mumbai, India. The trip took six weeks by sea, with a delay of four days in Freetown, Sierra Leone and a stopover of four days in Cape Town.
Captain Moore then took a train from Bombay to Poona, before arriving at Kirkee, a town now known as Khadki.
The 9th DWR formed the 50th Indian Tank Brigade under the command of Brigadier Schreiber.
Captain Moore was then invited by the crossing guard to begin a motorcycle course for the brigade because of his expertise in the sport.
The Brigade was then ordered to move to Calcutta – the road trip was in a monsoon and took three weeks.
His battalion was stationed in the Lohardaga district near Ranchi.
They then participated in two exercises in the Arakan before moving further east and south to Rangoon.
Captain Moore was then sent to take a course at the approved vehicle depot in Bovington, England.
He stayed here as an instructor until it closed.
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