Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

BARKER John Edward MB BS MRCS LRCP FFARACS

1908-1989

John Edward Barker was born, on 19th May 1908, in Prospect, South Australia. He was the son of Alfred Edward Barker and Ethel Salome Brown. Barker had three siblings Catherine, Ruth and Edgar. His family were fourth generation South Australians at the time. Barker was educated at St Peter’s College and studied medicine at the University of Adelaide graduating in 1931. During his university years he lived at St Mark’s College and was on the College Club Committee, becoming the club secretary and also the wine steward. He won a university blue and college colours for lacrosse.   After finishing his degree, he travelled to England and worked at St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London, where he obtained Membership of the Royal College of Surgeons and the Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians in 1938. He spent some time at Dulwich Hospital before returning to Adelaide in 1939. While in England he became interested in anaesthetics which became his focus in his medical career.  He married Mary McGilp, the Director of the Barker Kindergarten, on 14th December 1940, at Scots Church, North Terrace, Adelaide. She was the daughter of John Neil McGilp and Maude Constance, nee Lindsay, a SA pioneer family. Apart from his interest in lacrosse, Barker, also owned racehorses and regularly attended Morphettville Race Course and the annual visits to the Melbourne Cup.  He shared a farm property with his father-in-law Neil McGilp.

Barker enlisted, as a captain, in the AAMC, at Keswick, on 27th May 1940, and remained on full-time duty in the CMF in 4 MD throughout 1941. He stayed in Australia and served throughout the war in SA and NT, in 7 Supply Personnel Coy, 52 ACH, 105 AMH, and the RAP at Keswick.  He was appointed as an anaesthetist to 105 AMH in June 1945 and promoted to major on 17th June 1945.  He received 90 days medical training leave before his appointment was terminated and placed on the Reserve of Officers on 15th November 1945.

Following the war, Barker was appointed to the RAH, as an anaesthetic registrar for intensive training, in 1946. He joined the Australian Society of Anaesthetists and became its secretary, in 1947. He was appointed an honorary anaesthetist at the RAH and visiting anaesthetist at ACH. He also joined the South Australian Tuberculosis Services as an anaesthetist to the thoracic surgical unit, in 1948, which was to become the focus of his specialist work in the future. Barker went, to Port Moresby, PNG for three months, in 1957 with Dr D’Arcy Sutherland of the Chest Surgical Unit. Later he spent 3 months with Dr Howard Brown and the chest surgical team in Port Moresby, then a further three months with the same team in Rabaul, PNG.  He was elected a Fellow of the Faculty of Anaesthetics of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in 1959. During the Vietnam War, in 1965, he was a member of Dr Mervyn Smith's surgical team. With this team he spent three months at the Bien Hoa Civilian Hospital as an anaesthetist for general and traumatic surgery on South Vietnamese civilian and war injured. Throughout his career, he maintained a busy private practice within the Stace Group. Known to be a conscientious, efficient and likable man, John Edward Barker died on 11th May 1989, aged 80 years. His wife Mary, and four daughters, Janet, Judith, Penelope and Louise survived him.

Source

Blood, Sweat and Fears III: Medical Practitioners South Australia, who Served in World War 2. 

Swain, Jelly, Verco, Summers. Open Books Howden, Adelaide 2019. 

Uploaded by Annette Summers AO RFD