105-year-old D-Day veteran toasted at Swinton wartime karaoke night

Rowms Lane Social Club was the venue on Saturday for an evening of wartime karaoke.

Legion member and veteran Mick Reilly, one of the event’s organisers, said: “All branches are celebrating D-Day and we decided to come up with something different.

“We hit on the idea of doing wartime karaoke and encouraging people to come in wartime dress, with prizes for the best singers and best outfits.

“The standard was so high on the night the judges said we should have prizes for the runners-up, too.”

Guest of honour on the night was David Hughes (pictured top, centre right), a former naval commodore from Whiston who served at D-Day and was celebrating his 105th birthday.

The Legion and the Royal Naval Association arranged for Mr Hughes to be “piped aboard” before he was treated to a rendition of Happy Birthday and presented with a cake bearing the Royal Navy crest.

Retired commodore Mr Hughes had earlier paid a personal tribute to the fallen after the Legion arranged for him to visit military cemeteries and the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.

Welfare liaison officer Chaz Prouten, who accompanied him, called Mr Hughes a great character who still paints, dances and plays the harmonica despite his advanced age.