Family :

Education & Career :

Bank Manager

After receiving his education in the Picton High School, he joined the staff of the Bank of Montreal in 1896. He advanced rapidly in the service and capably filled in various places posts of great responsibility. Because of his energy and ability he was appointed in 1912 Assistant to the General Manager.

Service Life:

Campaigns:

• The First World War 1914-1918, World-wide.

31 July - 10 November 1917. By the summer of 1917 the British Army was able for the first time to fight on its chosen ground on its terms. Having secured the southern ridges of Ypres at Messines in June, the main attack started on 31st July 1917 accompanied by what seemed like incessant heavy rain, which coupled with the artillery barrages conspired to turn much of the battlefield into a bog. Initial failure prompted changes in the high command and a strategy evolved to take the ring of ridges running across the Ypres salient in a series of 'bite and hold' operations, finally culminating in the capture of the most easterly ridge on which sat the infamous village of Passchendaele. The Official History carries the footnote ?The clerk power to investigate the exact losses was not available? but estimates of British casualties range from the official figure of 244,000 to almost 400,000. Within five months the Germans pushed the British back to the starting line, which was where they had been since May 1915.

Detail :

Bank of Montreal Roll of Honour. "In 1916 he enlisted with the 245th Battalion, and went to England as Captain of 'C' Company. In order to reach the front more quickly he reverted to the rank of Lieutenant, and went to France in August, 1917, with a reinforcement draft for the 87th Battalion, Canadian Grenadier Guards. On September 27th, 1917, his battalion then holding the line at Avion, near Lens, was relieved by another unit; he was waiting with his men for the relieving company when he was instantly killed by an enemy trench mortar shell."

Toronto Evening Telegram - 2nd October, 1917 - "LIEUT. D.J. BARKER KILLED. Lieut. D.J. Barker, late assistant to the general manager of the Bank of Montreal, has been killed in action. Lieut. Barker enlisted a year ago with a Montreal battalion and reverted from a captaincy to a lieutenancy in order to reach the front lines. During his twenty-two years connection with the Bank of Montreal he had made rapid strides, acquiring correspondingly great responsibilities. He was a member of St. James' Club, Beaconsfield Club, the Free Masons and the Church of England, Lieut. Barker was thirty-nine years of age and unmarried. He was the only sone of Mr. D.J. Baker, sheriff of Prince Edward County. His maternal grandfather was the late Judge Jellett, of Picton"

Buried at the Villers Station Military Cemetery Grave 2 Plot 12 Row A

See also: The Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Masonic :

The records of St. Paul's Lodge at the United Grand Lodge of England show that he was "Killed in action Sep 1917"

Source :

The project globally acknowledges the following as sources of information for research across the whole database:

• The Commonwealth War Graves Commission
• The (UK) National Archives
• Ancestry.co.uk - Genealogy, Family Trees & Family History online
• ugle.org.uk - The records of the United Grand Lodge of England including the Library and Museum of Freemasonry

Additional Source:

• Founder Researchers : Paul Masters & Mike McCarthy
• Researcher : Bruce Littley