Chelsea Pensioners toast of the town

TWO Chelsea pensioners were welcomed to the borough yesterday by the Mayor of Oldham, Councillor Shoab Akhtar, who entertained them at the civic centre.

Alf Hey (87) and Denis Shiels (81) will be present at the festival of remembrance at the Queen Elizabeth Hall tonight, and at the war memorial on Sunday.

The two men were guests of the Royal British Legion and both were presented with a plaque bearing the borough’s coat of arms.

Alf Hey was taken prisoner in Crete in 1941 by no less a German than Max Schmeling, the former world heavyweight boxing champion.

He said Schmeling, who once knocked out the legendary Joe Louis, treated him with dignity and compassion.