During the early years of WW2 it soon became apparent that the system for tracing the remains of RAF aircrew deemed Missing Believed Killed was totally inadequate. The Missing Research Section (MRS) of the Air Ministry was set up in 1941 to deal with this problem. It collected and collated intelligence reports from a wide variety of official, unofficial and covert sources in an attempt to establish the fate of missing aircrew, using forensic or semi-forensic work to identify personal effects passed on through clandestine channels or bodies washed up on Britains shores.