Barker joined the Canadian Mounted
Rifles in December 1914. He spent a year in the
trenches before transferring to the Royal Flying
Corps in April 1916. After starting out as a
mechanic, he qualified as an observer in August
1916 and shot down his first enemy aircraft from
the rear seat of a B.E.2d. Posted to England
in November 1916, he soloed after 55 minutes
of dual instruction and received a pilot's certificate
in January 1917. A month later, he was back in
France flying an R.E.8 until wounded by anti-aircraft
fire on 7 August 1917. When he recovered, he
served as a flight instructor before returning
to combat duty in France. In November 1917, his
squadron was reassigned to Italy where Barker's
Sopwith Camel became the single most successful
fighter aircraft of the war. Logging more than
379 hours of flight time, Barker shot down 46
enemy aircraft before Camel #B6313 was retired
from service and dismantled on 2 October 1918.
That month, he assumed command of the air combat
school at Hounslow. Deciding he needed to brush
up on air combat techniques for his new assignment,
Barker joined 201 Squadron for ten days in France.
During that time, he saw no action and was about
to return to England when he decided to make
one more excursion over the front. On 27 October
1918, alone and flying a Sopwith Snipe, he encountered
a large number (sometimes quoted as sixty) enemy aircraft.
In an epic battle with Jagdgeschwader 3, Barker
shot down four enemy aircraft despite appalling
wounds to both legs and his elbow. Fainting from
pain and loss of blood, he managed to crash land
his Snipe within the safety of the British lines.
For his actions that day, Barker received the
Victoria Cross (VC).
The fuselage of Barker's Snipe E8102 is on display at the Canadian War Museum.
Barker died in a flying accident in 1930. He stalled a Fairchild KR-21 trainer at the top of a loop and, with insufficent altitude to recover, crashed into the frozen Ottawa River at the Rockliffe Air Station.
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