Harold Arthur BARKER DCM

Harold Arthur BARKER DCM Update Details

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BARKER, Harold Arthur

Service Numbers:	43, QX36758, Q15603
Enlisted:	17 August 1914
Last Rank:	Major
Last Unit:	49 Infantry Battalion AMF
Born:	Bendigo, Victoria, Australia, 22 March 1893
Home Town:	Ascot Vale, Melbourne, Victoria
Schooling:	Ascot Vale State School, Victoria, Australia
Occupation:	Salesman
Died:	Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 8 May 1988, aged 95 years, cause of death not yet discovered
Cemetery:	Albany Creek Memorial Park-Cemetery & Crematorium, Queensland Wall 12 Section 28
Memorials:	Bendigo Great War Roll of Honor

World War 1 Service

17 Aug 1914:	Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 43, 27th Infantry Battalion
19 Oct 1914:	Involvement Private, 43, 7th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '9' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Hororata embarkation_ship_number: A20 public_note: ''
19 Oct 1914:	Embarked Private, 43, 7th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Hororata, Melbourne
24 Jan 1919:	Involvement AIF WW1, Captain, 15th Machine Gun Company

World War 2 Service

4 Oct 1939:	Enlisted Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Major, QX36758, also Q15603 & QB208
1 Sep 1942:	Promoted Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Major, 49 Infantry Battalion AMF, from temporary (11 Feb 1941) to Major
16 Dec 1943:	Promoted Lieutenant Colonel, New Guinea Details Depot, T/Lt. Col. 16.12.1943 to 12.10.1944 (relinquished command - medical reason (tropical debility))
23 Dec 1944:	Discharged Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Major, QX36758
23 Dec 1944:	Discharged Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Major, Q15603, 49 Infantry Battalion AMF, also QX36758 & QB208

Help us honour Harold Arthur Barker's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.

Biography contributed by Sian Carlyon

Mother: Eliza Stribley
Father: Arthur Barker

Born: 22 March 1893
Bendigo, Victoria

On joining 7th Battalion in August 1914 Harold Barker was assigned to the machine-gun section. After landing at Gallipoli, Barker continued to work the guns under heavy artillery fire from Ottoman guns. He was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for his courage and ingenuity after he led the collection and re-assembly of damaged machine guns often under fire.

By 1919, Harold is listed as a motor proprietor.

Engaged: 1923
Married: 1924 (Sydney). 4695/1924 - NSW BDM
to: Philomene Rosetta (Phil) Nowland
(b.1902 – d.23.8.1949 Balmoral Cemetery, Brisbane)

Captain Barker DCM was best man at the December 1922 wedding of Captain Raymond Clare Nowland, a relative of Philomene.

Harold and Phil married in 1924 in Sydney, NSW.

By the early 1930s, sound had come to the movies, and Harold became Manager of Queensland Talking Pictures Ltd.

Ultimately this led into his involvement with troop entertainment efforts through mobile film units in New Guinea during WWII. Serving in the Second World War he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in 1943.

(1943 'FOUR MOBILE FILM UNITS IN NEW GUINEA', Tweed Daily (Murwillumbah, NSW : 1914 - 1949), 5 February, p. 2., http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article194673278)

Later he served as Assistant Commissioner in the Red Cross Society in Brisbane.

Died: 8 May 1988
Brisbane, Queensland

in Albany Creek Memorial Park Cemetery & Crematorium

Virtual
War Memorial
Australia