A CHELSEA pensioner and former army sergeant visited a Newport school last week to share his stories with a history class.

Sgt Bruce Ozanne visited Caerleon Comprehensive School to give pupils a firsthand account of his time in the military.

He spent an hour talking to a class of 30 Year 9 students about his service in Northern Ireland, the and Europe.

The 75-year old resides in the retirement home, Royal Hospital Chelsea, with other former military personnel.

He also spoke with pupils about life after the military.

The visit was organised by Tony Hampson, an ex-servicemen himself and educational welfare officer, who joined him on the day.

Mr Hampson is a member of the Army Reserve, and, dressed in uniform, he spoke of his service in Afghanistan and Europe.

They were also joined by Mr Hampsons’ brother, Sgt Steven Hampson.

He taught pupils through his experiences in Northern Ireland, the Balkans, Germany, Cyprus and Belize.

School resource and communications manager Jo Hewitt said: “Tony Hampson organised the visit as he has strong links to the school and the military.

“He is particularly interested in military history and works with a number of veterans and groups.

“Sgt Ozanne was here for about an hour before the lesson and met other students around the site and during morning break.

“The pupils were very interested and asked lots of questions.

“It was great to have ‘real’ people to bring history to life.

“At present we don’t have more guest speakers planned, but we often take advantage of opportunities like this at fairly short notice.”