Chelsea pensioner uses virtual reality to revisit French town he liberated in WWII

A CHELSEA pensioner has been able to visit the French two that he helped liberate from the Nazis during WWII using a virtual reality headset just days before Remembrance Sunday.

Frank Mouque, 91, was even presented with a medal by the mayor of Armentieres without leaving his armchair at the Royal Chelsea Hospital in London which looks after war veterans.

You can see the four-minute video, including his reaction here:

[youtube //www.youtube.com/watch?v=PModuWq8hAI]

Frank is the first World War II soldier to be use the technology. He put on the headset and could see the market square which he had helped liberate, saw children singing a traditional song to him and had the mayor thank him publicly and present him with the town’s highest honour, Medal of Armentieres.

Afterwards Frank said: “Fantastic! I’m lost for words.

“It’s ingenius. It’s like you’re really there, standing in front of them.

“On behalf of all the people who were serving with me, thank you.”

The project was devised by Twine, . The Manchester-based group roped in cameramen, technicians, producers, musicians and interviewers to head to Armentieres in northern France.

There they set up the interviews and filmed the footage which Frank could then watch via the headset which made him feel like he was in the room.

His reaction was filmed in the heartwarming footage.

Twine’s founder Stuart Logan said: “Virtual reality is a technology with almost limitless potential but we wanted to look beyond the thrills and entertainment and use it to achieve something truly profound.

“My late grandfather took part in the liberation of Europe so I was drawn to the idea of helping a member of this extraordinary generation see the two today that he helped free so many decades earlier.”

Frank, who was born in Putney, London, was a sapper with the British Royal Engineers during the war defusing mines and building bridges.

He was part of the D-Day assault on Sword Beach in 1944. He came under fire as he helped clear a path through the landmines before his 263 Field Company freed several towns from the Nazis, including Armentieres – the town he remembers most fondly.

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