Operation Nightingale
An initiative to assist the recovery of wounded, injured and sick military personnel and veterans by getting them involved in archaeological investigations.
About Op Nightingale
The initiative is controlled by the Ministry of Defence and is a registered trademark (UK00003192564). It has been running since 2011 and has undertaken fieldwork in the UK and overseas, with hundreds of military personnel having worked on projects.
BBC Digging for Britain with the Op Nightingale excavations at Perham Down.
Owning around 1% of the UK mainland, the defence estate holds a lot of the nation鈥檚 heritage. 770 scheduled monuments are within this portfolio and this presents not only a major challenge for the 4 archaeologists that work for this government department, but also a fabulous opportunity to share cultural heritage opportunities with these volunteers.
This work, not only assists the wellbeing of participants but also contributes towards the department鈥檚 commitment to the stewardship of the historic estate. Operation Nightingale has also worked alongside several military related charities and the excavation work has led to numerous publications and also to new artefacts being displayed in museum galleries.
You can follow us on to find out what we鈥檙e working on.
Applying to participate
The Community Interest Company, Breaking Ground Heritage is a charity is run by military veterans, It is one of the main providers of volunteers for Op Nightingale digs.
If you are a veteran or serving personnel can apply for Op Nightingale projects through their .
The website also holds excavation reports and films of many Op Nightingale sites.
Defence Archaeology Group (DAG), run by serving military personnel, are another provider of volunteers. If you are serving personnel, you can apply for projects through the .
Further information
Wessex Archaeology is one of the main commercial providers of Op Nightingale projects. You can read more about their work for projects on the .
You can read the DIO blogpost , an interview with Ex-Marine Dickie Bennett, a participant on Op Nightingale ventures
You can read the DIO blogpost , an interview with Alex Sotheran, a MOD archaeologist who works on Op Nightingale sites.
- available from Breaking Ground Heritage website
. This video has no dialogue.
Sanctuary magazine
We have features in the following MOD鈥檚 Sanctuary Magazine. All the links below will open in PDF.
You can also read other editions of Sanctuary Magazine.
News
Updates to this page
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Added accessible video transcripts for 2 videos on the page.
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Amended the summary to keep the page up to date.
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First published.