The decorated former soldier issued a rallying cry, delivered with hope and optimism. He said: “I respectfully ask Britain to stop whatever it is doing and take some time to remember. We must all be thankful that were it not for the ultimate sacrifices made all those years ago we would not be enjoying the freedoms we have today, even in these most difficult of times. Rest assured I will be joining you all in quiet reflection with my family and I will always live with the optimism that tomorrow will be a good day.”

Capt Tom’s address to the nation comes a week after he celebrated his 100th birthday, having so far raised a staggering £32.7million for the NHS by walking laps of his garden in Marston Moretaine, Beds.

Tonight a special documentary will be screened in his honour, showing his days fighting in Burma, a campaign that saw one million Allied troops from 40 nations attempt to repel the invading forces of Imperial Japan from the British colony.

Upon returning to the UK from the Far East, Capt Tom was posted as an instructor to the Armoured Fighting Vehicle School in Bovington and was in Dorset on that glorious spring day 75 years ago.

He told the Daily Express: “My recollection OFVE Day is in many ways joyful. I was based in Bovington and we stopped our duties for a few hours to celebrate, albeit minimally.

“We were all thrilled that the bombing of the UK had finally stopped and that prisoners everywhere could start to be released and the pain of war throughout Europe could start to fall away after six long years.

However, it was bittersweet, because my comrades who I had recently left in Burma were still fighting a bitter war against a ruthless enemy without morals.

“This time 75 years ago many were still fighting so we must never forget and must also look to remember onVJ day in August.”

Capt Tom was decorated with the 1939-45 Star, Burma Star and 1939-45War Medal.

On his birthday he was awarded a 1939-45 defence medal, after eagle-eyed experts trawled through his war record and realised he should have been awarded the medal decades ago.

The hero, born in Keighley, West Yorks, was conscripted into the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment in 1940 and was immediately posted to India.

In the programme, Capt Tom honours the men he fought alongside in the Burma campaign. It ended in August 1945 – three months after VE Day. Of the Japanese fighters he said: “They were awful, completely without morals.They starved people to death and didn’t care.”

But he recalled how his commanders had a secret weapon to keep up morale among the troops, saying: “This charming young lady appeared. It turned out to be [Dame] Vera Lynn. And to a lot of men who hadn’t seen girls for a long time, it was quite something. She really boosted the morale of everybody. She was great.

“The forces’ sweetheart, 103, who lives in Ditchling, East Sussex, delivered her own uplifting address on VE Day, saying: “I hope VE Day will remind us all that hope remains even in the most difficult of times and that simple acts of bravery and sacrifice still define our nation as the NHS works so hard to care for us.

“Most of all, I hope today serves as a reminder that however hard things get, we will meet again.”

Captain Tom’s War, ITV, tonight, 8pm.

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