A VETERAN Fylde councillor staged his own old pals act when he paid a surprise visit to a 90-year-old friend he had last seen in the Second World War.

Staining councillor Alf Goldberg, 87, was visiting London to publicise his book, Worlds End for Sir Oswald, about his experiences in 1930s Chelsea when fascist Sir Oswald Mosley was stirring up anti-semitic hatred.

After being interviewed on BBC's Greater London Radio by DJ Janice Long, and touring bookshops in the Kings Road, Alf determined to track down his old pal, Joe Mullins. He and Joe were the only two of six friends to survive the war.

They all featured in a chapter of the book when they went for a hilarious day-trip in a car driven by Alf, then just 17, who had never before taken the wheel on a public road.

Walking round Battersea, Alf decided to turn detective, calling on a block of council flats built on the site of the slums where they were both brought up. He asked the caretaker and sure enough there was a J.Mullins on his tenants list.

"I went up to the fourth floor and his door was partly open," said Alf. "I pushed it - and there he was. He recognised me almost straight away, it was amazing.

"I was so pleased to find he was happy, and he couldn't be living anywhere better with the spectacular view from his flat." Joe, one of 12 children and a bricklayer by trade, is now a landscape painter.

He said: "It made my day seeing Alfie after all that time. He looked just the same, I was astounded.

"We had a drink and spent most of the afternoon reminiscing about old times and exchanging stories. They were wonderful days."

Alf, whose family had been poor Jewish immigrants, also revisited the former Chelsea Town Hall, from which he had been ejected by Blackshirts during a fascist rally. Ironically, the building is now a library - and Alf's book is in stock there.

Worlds End for Sir Oswald is published by the Book Guild at £10.95.

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