WW2 hero inspired by Captain Tom walks 661 miles around his garden

Harold Jones, who has walked almost 42,000 laps of his garden, is 100 years old and a great-grandfather to six (Picture: SWNS)

A World War II veteran has honoured the late Captain Sir Tom Moore by walking around his own garden to raise money for charity.

Harold Jones, who is 100 hundred years old and has six great-grandchildren, began doing laps of his backyard during the pandemic, following in the late captain’s footsteps.

Since then, Mr Jones, who served in the British Army between 1942 and 1947, says he’s completed almost 42,000 circuits for a total of just over 660 miles.

For reference, that’s approximately the distance from his home in Birmingham to the nearest border with Germany. 

News of his achievements comes as the three-year anniversary of Captain Sir Tom Moore’s death approaches.

Having raised more than £43,000 over the past four years, he’s donated the money to the Motor Neurone Disease Foundation, in memory of a number of his friends who suffered from the disease. 

Speaking with the Daily Express, he said: ‘Captain Tom did inspire me but I’ve now walked a far greater distance than he did in the end. 

Captain Sir Tom Moore raised an astonishing £39 million, an unprecedented amount for a member of the public, for the NHS by walking laps of his garden during the pandemic (Picture: PA)

‘I always refer to myself as Lance Corporal Harold. Captain Tom was a captain so I thought I’d go to the other end of the spectrum.’

He went on: ‘One other reason I started was to keep fit and keep moving. With Covid we had to stay in and all sorts of things. 

‘I saw it was what Captain Tom had done to raise money. I had lost three friends with Motor Neurone Disease and I thought I’d do the same. 

‘It has become a daily routine ever since.’

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Ahead of the anniversary of Captain Sir Tom Moore’s death on February 2, a bronze statue of the famous WWII veteran has been posted on eBay after the artist creator who conceived of the idea failed to find a public home for it.

It also comes amid news of a massive drop in revenue for the late captain’s daughter, Hannah Ingram-Moore, who has come under repeated fire for the way her family has handled finances connected to her father’s legacy.

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