A retired Army captain is bringing history to life in a pioneering scheme that could spread to schools throughout the UK.

Ray Hazan was blinded, lost his right hand and suffered severe hearing loss in an IRA parcel bomb explosion in 1973 during his second tour of duty in Northern Ireland.

While recovering in hospital, the Army welfare officer put him in touch with St Dunstan's, the charity caring for blind ex-servicemen and women based in Ovingdean.

Mr Hazan is one of the first St Dunstaner's to take part in a unique education awareness project launched at the Imperial War Museum in London.

It has been created in close consultation with teachers and educational business partners to link directly to the history and citizenship curriculum in schools.

While charities have previously been involved in talks to pupils, or developing teaching packs to assist lesson planning, it is believed this is the first time any charity has provided such a direct input into curricular studies.

It is being piloted in Sussex but is expected to be adopted across the country later this year.

About 30 Year 9 pupils at Longhill School, Rottingdean, who are studying the First World War, were given a presentation by Mr Hazan on Friday.

The youngsters, aged 13 and 14, have just completed studying the Treaty of Versailles.

As part of the St Dunstan's presentation, the pupils learnt about the conflict by following the story of one of the first St Dunstaners, David Melling.

He was blinded in battle at Gallipoli in 1915 at the age of 18 but went on to rebuild his life with the support of St Dunstan's.

The presentation contrasted the mood of the young soldiers as they joined up and the response they faced returning home, blinded and disabled.

The pupils at Longhill also had the opportunity to question Mr Hazan on his blindness and his experiences of conflict.

He said: "At first, I had no concept of what blindness meant.

"All that was in my mind were things I thought I could never do again.

"The day I arrived for training was the day my attitude to life changed."

Robert Leader, chief executive of St Dunstan's, said: "We felt it was time we brought the story of St Dunstan's to a younger audience."