A MAN responsible for taking thousands of Worcestershire residents overseas to visit the graves of their loved ones in the first and second world wars is retiring.

81-year-old Alex Bulloch founded the Birmingham War Research Society in 1972 with police force colleagues, to find specific war graves and take relatives to visit them.

Mr Bulloch received the MBE in 2008 for charitable services, and worked in the City of Birmingham Police from 1957 to 1988, attending the Birmingham pub bombings in 1974.

He said: “After more than 40 years, I’ve decided to stand down because of health reasons. But I do feel a sense of pride and achievement at having taken so many people to the battlefields.

“I first became interested in war research after travelling to Paris with my wife. I visited a cemetery over there, and on returning to Britain, my colleagues and I decided to set up trips to the former battlefields. This fascination started to grow and we were soon regularly taking coach loads of relatives to the last resting places of relatives.

“The Birmingham War Research Society became a unique group, because although many travel companies now run battlefield tours, the society, which had charitable status, was for many years the only organisation that performed such a personal service.

“I have had many enjoyable journeys to Europe and it has given me great satisfaction to have taken people to the graves of family members.”