Lieutenant General Michael George Henry Barker CB, DSO*, DL (15 October 1884 – 21 May 1960) was a British Army officer who fought in both world wars, notably as commander of I Corps during the Battle of France in May 1940.

Quick Facts Born, Died ...

Michael Barker
Born	15 October 1884 Wells, Somerset, England
Died	21 May 1960 (aged 75) Colchester, Essex, England
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1903–1941
Rank	Lieutenant General
Service number	6187
Unit	East Surrey Regiment Lincolnshire Regiment York and Lancaster Regiment
Commands held	11th (Service) Battalion, West Yorkshire Regiment 53rd Brigade 2nd Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment British Forces in Palestine and Trans-Jordan I Corps Aldershot Command
Battles/wars	Second Boer War World War I Arab revolt in Palestine World War II
Awards	Companion of the Order of the Bath Distinguished Service Order & Bar Mentioned in dispatches (6)

Close

Michael Barker was born on 15 October 1884 in Wells, Somerset. He joined the British Army as a second lieutenant in the 4th (Militia) Battalion, East Surrey Regiment on 28 February 1902,^[1] and served with this battalion in South Africa during the Second Boer War, returning home in October 1902.^[2] After his return, he took a regular commission in the Lincolnshire Regiment in 1903.^[3] He served throughout World War I with the Lincolnshire Regiment and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) in 1917, ending the war the following year as a lieutenant colonel.^[4]

Soon after the end of the war he attended the Staff College, Camberley, and later commanded the 2nd Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment from 1927 to 1931 before being promoted to brigadier as a staff officer at Eastern Command.^[4] He became Director of Recruiting and Organization at the War Office in 1936^[3] and British Forces in Palestine and Trans-Jordan in 1939, during the final stages of the Arab revolt in Palestine.^[5]

During World War II he served as commander of I Corps from April 1940, before being replaced during the latter stages of the Battle of Dunkirk by Major-General The Hon. Harold Alexander, commanding the 1st Division. His performance there was undistinguished; according to Alan Brooke commanding II Corps he suffered a nervous breakdown; he was overwrought with work (and was) impossible to deal with.^[6]

His then-subordinate, Bernard Montgomery, remarked that "only a madman would give a corps to Barker." His active military service was finished, and he served for a year as head of Aldershot Command before retiring from the army later that year.^[3]

Barker died in 1960, aged 75, in Colchester, Essex.

Barker married Barbara Maude Bentall in Essex in October 1914.^[7] He was the father of Michael John Eustace Barker (1915–1995) who became, among other things, a merchant sailor, and who was, allegedly, the lover of Stephen Spender and, later, W. H. Auden for a time during World War II. "Jack", as he was known, wrote an autobiography, "No Moaning There!", published in 1962.^[8]