We were recently fortunate enough to sit down for a conversation with Richard Osgood, author of Broken Pots, Mending Lives, which tells the story of Operation Nightingale, the groundbreaking wellbeing initiative using archaeology to help veterans on their journeys to recovery.
Scroll down to discover what led Richard to become an archaeologist, learn more about his writing process, gain insight into the O.N. excavations, and unearth his top five finds.
By Richard Osgood and the Casemate UK team | 10 min read
What led you to pursue a career in archaeology?
I am really lucky in that I pretty much knew I wanted to do something associated with ‘history’ from the age of 11 or thereabouts. I grew up in Wiltshire and in the first year at secondary school we had a subject called ‘local studies’ – trips to West Kennet longbarrow, Avebury, Bradford-on-Avon Saxon church and tithe barn were part of this as well as looks at geology and wider archaeology – I was hooked. The comprehensive school football pitch also had tantalising traces of archaeology at the edge – bits of pot, oyster shell and the suchlike. Cross country runs – with the wonderful misnomer of the ‘fun run’ – yielded the opportunity to take a short cut across a farmer’s field and you could see more of these items. In fact I also remember that some of the flowerpots outside the staff room were stone sarcophagi or similar. Some years after I’d left, there was an excavation of this pitch and they found a Roman villa complete with wonderful mosaic featuring a dolphin and other designs amongst the geometric patterns. Perhaps I picked the archaeology vibes up through the soil when kicking a ball about! At the age of 17 I did my first dig – a round barrow at West Overton under the guidance of the late Professor John Evans of the University of Cardiff. I marked up a lot of Bronze Age pot and found a Roman nail which, at that point, was a real thrill. After that I went to University to study archaeology and history and, 35 years later here I am.
Do you have an archaeological specialism?
I suppose I used to – the Later Bronze Age in North Europe. I studied this under the late Professor Andrew Sherratt, looking at conflict in this period in particular. I directed some fieldwork associated with this study area and published some of my thoughts along with colleagues in a couple of books. I think now, if anything, it would have to be the archaeology of the 20th Century partly resulting from the ‘customers’ I associate with at work: the armed forces. Excavations of trenches, tanks, fighter and bomber aircraft, camp sites abound and I am working on a Naval example too in the near future I hope. There are many others that know far more than me about all of these subjects but I have gained a reasonable general grasp of this area I think.
Other than that my specialism would have to be archaeological curation. The Ministry Of Defence (MOD) owns around 1% of the UK mainland and has responsibilities in such exotic locations as Cyprus, Kenya, Gibraltar, Belize and others. My team and I are in part responsible for ensuring that the heritage on these sites is not damaged at the same time as facilitating military training. This can be challenging work but it is incredibly varied and requires innovation throughout. I am very much an evangelist for the MOD in term of heritage – so much of the ethos of the Armed Forces is based on this subject – Regimental traditions and special days, battle honours and standards, museums, structures designated for their association with specific military events and individuals. They GET the importance of heritage, and archaeology is a major part of this.
For those who haven’t got their copy of Broken Pots yet, how did Operation Nightingale come to be?
In 2011 The Rifles were heavily engaged in conflict overseas. First Battalion, The Rifles, were one of these units. Their men that were unable to deploy because of wounds and injuries from previous tours formed part of what was called the ‘Rear Operations Group’. One of this number, Steve Winterton, had suffered injuries from a mortar blast and was thus about to get a medial discharge from the Army. He was a career soldier and the abrupt end was a severe shock to him leading him to depression. One of the things that prevented this spiralling out of control was his watching the popular archaeological programme ‘Time Team’ on television. He loved the teamwork and camaraderie, the sense of discovery, the open spaces. His medical Sergeant discovered that the Ministry of Defence had its own archaeology team and asked if we could set up something for Steve and his colleagues and thus Operation Nightingale was born. Some 12 years later all cap badges of the British military take part (as well as quite a number of other nations) with hundreds passing through our ranks and several on to University courses or even careers in the subject. Without Steve we probably wouldn’t be talking about this project today.
Perhaps I picked the archaeology vibes up through the soil when kicking a ball about!
How do you go about choosing where to excavate?
I have two sort of sites really – those on the land owned by the MOD and sites on private land. For the former the work has to be required by the department. This can be for a multitude of reasons – removing a site from the Historic England ‘Heritage At Risk’ list; creating guidance documentation for excavation strategies for particular sites; for gaining crucial curatorial information that we can extrapolate across the wider estate and the suchlike. These projects enable us to care for our heritage as well as providing opportunities to our service personnel and can even save us money. All the work is done in conjunction with professional archaeological organisations too and this creates pathways for participants to pursue further archaeological endeavours as well as emphasising the importance of the discipline in general wellbeing. On sites outside the Defence boundary the projects have to meet a series of criteria – both academic and from an engagement perspective. Will we learn anything through excavation work? Crucially will we find anything? A bored soldier is both a dangerous and inventive entity so we really do need to be occupied throughout the fieldwork! Are there suitable budgets available for any conservation or publication requirements? I think the other main thing is the requirement for a good story with lots of potential facets to it – from museum visits through to watching any films associated with the site and with a supportive local populace. Military sites often seem to meet most of these elements.
Do veterans receive some training before starting their first project, or is it a case of learning on the job?
© Harvey Mills
This is something that really varies. On some of the projects – where there is the potential for the discovery of human remains for example – we HAVE run sessions with buried plastic skeletons and associated grave goods, alongside more ‘lecture’ style sessions on what we aim to achieve. Otherwise most of the programmes see our volunteers straight onto site! They are usually given tutorials on excavation elements by various experts or we partner them up with somebody who is experienced – be it veteran or archaeologist. I know that on past excavations we have seen people that have been inexperienced excavating some really rather important remains – a Saxon burial with spear and one of the most intact drinking vessels from the 6th Century no less – and concentrating so hard that by the end of the day they were exhausted and, as this soldier said to us, as a consequence sleeping properly for the first time since being in Iraq. This was a happy biproduct but all part of the important catharsis that I think archaeology can provide. We are really keen that our participants continue to learn, to progress, to mentor new volunteers. We have used skills passports as well as seeing some of our old volunteers coming back to us as employees of archaeological companies engaged to accomplish the Operation Nightingale fieldwork projects.
The work is nothing if not eclectic
Can you tell us about some of the excavations that you have coming up?
I am writing this the day before starting work on a project to excavate the remains of a Second World War American B17 bomber and that will close the 2023 season as far as fieldwork is concerned. Next year – we will almost certainly be returning to Burrow (‘Rat’) Island to recover more remains of Georgian convicts that are eroding from a cliff face. Other projects in the planning stage vary from Neolithic long barrows through to Saxon cemeteries and Roman settlement through to huts used by Easy Company – the ‘Band of Brothers’; the work is nothing if not eclectic.
How did you approach writing up the story of Operation Nightingale?
The key for me was to make this work accessible – all of the projects either have an academic publication in the County Journal, as what we call ‘Grey literature’; an unpublished report within the relevant County Historic Environment Record (and often hosted online for easy access), or as a free-standing monograph. This book however was to highlight the work in a more immediate fashion – using the astonishing photographs of the very talented Harvey Mills who accompanies many of the digs, with illustrations by Professor Alice Roberts, and with, crucially the words of the participants themselves. I wanted the book to be their story as, frankly, it is this that makes the programme what it is and why we all take part. Their stories are powerful, by turn shocking and heartening and the book, I hope, is a positive story about what these men and women have achieved. Funnily enough I really enjoyed collating this as it was a great reminder of all the incredible digs and discoveries, of anecdotes, of enjoyable times with people I now call friends. In some ways it was like writing a retrospective diary of good times and the result has left me feeling a little in awe of the achievements of these people that that formed the group of Operation Nightingale. I hope people will buy the book – not least because ALL the money will be going to a military charity – and will feel as inspired as I do by the results.
What finds have most stood out to you?
© Harvey Mills
A top 5 in no particular order
- Kenny’s bucket – Rifleman Rowan Kendrick, 5 Rifles. One of his first digs with us was at Barro Clump, as part of this he dug the burial of a 6th Century male complete with an iron spear. What set the grave apart however was the presence of a drinking vessel made of staves of yew (still intact), with decorated bands of bronze holding it all together. It is a remarkable object and now on display at the Wiltshire Museum in Devizes. There is a also a picture of this discovery (with a name-check to Rowan) in the British Museum close to the Sutton Hoo helmet no less. I will never get MY name in this museum so this is some achievement and team members often send pictures of ‘Kenny’s bucket’ when they visit the museum.
- The tank track & shell case – when your research design is to try to find the remains of a First World War tank and you have been granted a very limited area to work in, the discovery of a complete length of track was both exciting and a huge relief. This object was so heavy and needed to be lifted from the trench by a tractor. We looked closely at the track and could see some of the original paint still on it; British racing green no less! For a vehicle that did 4 mph flat out! As we often have our thoughts of the First World War in sepia tone such colour was really quite something. The following year, two of the team found a fired 6lb tank shell case – just by the location of the track. One of these diggers was a gunner, the other an engineer and both were familiar with this sort of object from their military careers and this one item spoke strongly for the fighting that led to the demise of the tank and also of the effectiveness of the British logistics chain by this point in the war.
- D-Day clicker – In similar style to the tank track, when we looked at the hut site of the ‘Band of Brothers’ in Aldbourne we really wanted a connection to those paratroopers and the major events of 1944. At the upper end of expectations was the discovery of a ‘cricket’ or clicker. Made by ACME, this was issued to the airborne forces on the morning of D Day and would only have been used on the 6th June and those early days of the liberation of France. Was this item discarded by somebody that survived this momentous day? We’ll never know, but the fact that this item featured in both ‘Band of Brothers’ and ‘The Longest Day’ made it something that really was exiting to find.
- Visigoth brooch – At Barrow Clump in one of the early years, one of the team, Matt Smith, found an iron brooch. It looked almost Roman in form – crossbow-shaped and with bands of brass across the object giving it an almost stripey look. It was, however, not Roman; it was Visigothic. The brooch is only the second of its type ever found in Britain and, indeed, the very first from a grave. As such it is incredibly important. The next stage will be to look at the isotopic signature from the teeth of the woman who was buried with it and to see if she was a Visigoth – part of a great Gothic migration from central Europe to northern Spain/Southern France or if she was a Wiltshire woman that simply liked such an exotic item. It is important that the Operation Nightingale projects do good work and add to our collective knowledge. When something like this is found it really is a thrill.
- Winno’s sword – We set the whole programme up for Steve Winterton and at Barrow Clump Steve was vociferous that he wanted to find an Anglo Saxon sword. We warned him that such finds were really rather unusual but we still had three years of him articulating this desire. Low and behold, on the last grave in the final year of the project Steve DID find a sword. Pattern-welded, with sword bead and traces of the scabbard and mineralized organic elements of the handle this discovery could not have been better for team morale as well as completing our assemblage ‘wish-list’.
Broken Pots, Mending Lives is available now from the Pen and Sword website at the special price of £18.75.
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