An archaeologist is donating the proceeds from his latest book to an Armed Forces charity.

Richard Osgood MBE, from Winchester, is giving the money made from his book, Broken Pots, Mending Lives, to SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity.

The book is about Operation Nightingale, a Ministry of Defence (MoD) programme that helps servicemembers recover by taking them to dig sites.

Richard, who has been an archaeologist for many years, has worked with the MoD since 2003.

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A team of veterans en route to a dig site, shovels in hand (Image: SSAFA) He has written several books about archaeology and its links to military history.

Richard said: "Operation Nightingale – the subject of the ‘Broken Pots’ volume – has been running for well over a decade.

"It thus seemed high time to note down some of these memories, achievements of participants, and help them tell their stories.

"I wanted to get a good mix of the archaeology and the military tales within it, focusing on the people throughout."

Richard was born in Kingston upon Thames and grew up in Wiltshire.

He comes from a family of servicemembers, with his father having served as a cavalry veteran in the Second World Ward, and both grandfathers having served in artillery in the First World War.

He graduated from Oxford in 2003 with a Master of Letters and joined the MoD as one of two archaeologists in their Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO).

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A wounded veteran digging on Salisbury Plain, with Richard and other veterans in the background (Image: SSAFA) His other books include Bronze Age Warfare and The Unknown Warrior: An Archaeology of the Common Soldier.

He said: "SSAFA was the obvious choice to donate any funds to, as their work is aimed across the services of the Armed Forces and has been going on for a very long time."

SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity, provides lifelong support to serving men and women and veterans from the British Armed Forces and their families or dependents.

It helps the Armed Forces community in a number of ways, including providing practical, emotional, and financial support.

The charity also helps with housing and homelessness, health and social care, and offers support for those who have been bereaved.

To purchase Broken Pots, Mending Lives, visit oxbowbooks.com/9781789259384/broken-pots-mending-lives.

Richard's other books can be found on Amazon or at bookstores like Waterstones.