Captain Tom Moore, the former British army officer who spent the war years in Calcutta, has been admitted to hospital with Covid-19, his daughter has revealed.

There is particular concern for the 100-year-old as he has not be given a vaccine because he has been suffering from pneumonia since British Airways flew him and his family to a free holiday in Barbados in December. The trip was crossed of his wish list.

In a statement posted on Sunday night to the Captain Tom Moore Twitter account, Hannah Ingram-Moore wrote: “I wanted to update everybody that today my father was admitted to hospital.

“Over the last few weeks he was being treated for pneumonia and last week tested positive for Covid-19.

“He was at home with us until today when he needed additional help with his breathing. He is being treated in a ward, although he is not in ICU.

“The medical care he has received in the last few weeks has been remarkable and we know that the wonderful staff at Bedford Hospital will do all they can to make him comfortable and hopefully return home as soon as possible.

“We understand that everyone will be wishing him well. We are of course focusing on my father and will update you when we are able to.”

There have been thousands of get well messages for “Capt Tom”, including one from the Prime Minister Boris Johnson: “My thoughts are very much with Captain Tom Moore and his family. You’ve inspired the whole nation, and I know we are all wishing you a full recovery.”

Another was from a Billy Cove, who tweeted with a folded hands emoji: “I’m not a religious man, but I’ll say a little prayer for Captain Sir Tom Moore tonight, heaven can wait for this one.”

Moore caught the imagination of the people in Britain and beyond by doing 82-ft laps of his garden at his home in Marston Moretaine in Bedfordshire with a walking aid.

He was 99 when he set out to raise £1,000. Shortly after reaching his 100th birthday on 30 April 1920, he had raised £32,794,701 from more than 1.5 million supporters.

The army made him an honorary colonel; the Queen bestowed a knighthood at a special ceremony at Windsor Castle; a Spitfire flew over his home; publishers rushed out his autobiography; a film company announced it would make a movie about his life; and former England cricket captain Michael Vaughan presented him with an England cap.

Meanwhile, Moore, elevated to the status of a “national treasure”, cheered the nation in the middle of a pandemic with an uplifting message: “You’ve all got to remember that we will get through it in the end, it will all be right but it might take time. All the people are finding it difficult at the moment, but the sun will shine again and the clouds will go away.”

Moore was conscripted into the British Army in June 1940 when he was 20, and began his military career in Otley, West Yorkshire, where he joined the 8th Battalion, the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment.

In October 1941, his unit was posted to Bombay, with the sea voyage, via Cape Town, taking six weeks. He took a train to Poona and joined the 50th Indian Tank Brigade, where he was asked by his commander to start a motorcycling course for the Brigade because of his expertise in the sport. He was next ordered to move to his base in Calcutta — the journey during the monsoons took three weeks — and later took part in two exercises in the Arakan before moving to Rangoon.

In his autobiography, Tomorrow Will Be A Good Day, he wrote about how he spent his spare time in India chasing pretty girls, and how he “comforted” a lonely wife during a holiday in Kashmir.