Join us for the sixth Strathclyde Institute for Genealogical Studies’ Spotlight Talk featuring Alexia Clark of the UK Ministry of Defence’s ‘War Detectives’ team. 

The MOD War Detectives are a small team based at Imjin Barracks in Gloucestershire, who are tasked with identifying missing British Service Personnel from the two World Wars and the Korean War. Working closely with the Belgian MOD, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and other partners, their work has two main strands – the identification of remains recently recovered from the battlefields (often during large infrastructure projects), and the identification of those currently buried in graves marked ‘Known to God’.  With over 582,000 men still missing this is no small task, and the job requires a combination of archival research, genealogy, detective work and family liaison.

Whether or not it is possible to identify a newly found casualty, the War Detectives also organise a full military funeral for them – arranging their burial alongside their comrades in the CWGC cemeteries. For those already buried a service of rededication is organised, to recognise that the man has now been named.

In the last 12 months the team has rededicated the graves of 38 men, and buried a further 93 – they have travelled to across the Western Front on numerous occasions during this period, but also visited Italy and South Korea.

Alexia Clark 

Having had a passion for history and archives from a young age, Alexia studied History and Archaeology at the University of Wales before swerving away from her plan to work in archives for the lure of 3D objects in museums. She was employed in a variety of roles at Herefordshire Museums Service and the Museum in the Park, Stroud over a 17-year period, gaining an MA in Museum Studies from the University of Leicester during this time. She was involved in all aspects of museum work from washing wine glasses after a private view, to helping primary-age children to learn about the Stone Age and facilitating access to the dinosaur collections for world-leading experts. 

Alexia became aware of the work of the War Detectives during the World War One Commemoration period, and having caught the bug for researching the stories of individual soldiers represented in museum collections, freely admits she began ‘stalking the team’ waiting for a role with them to become available. That role came up in early 2023, and she has now been with the team for two years. Alexia has recently embarked on study for the Post-graduate Certificate in Genealogy via the University of Strathclyde.

An email with the Zoom webinar link will be sent by 12.00 GMT on 13 May 2025.