Major, REME
Born: March 29th 1909
Died: June 5th 1943
Age at Death: 34
Killed in active service, June 5th 1943
Father: L.C. Barker Engineer M.I.M.E
Address: 1 The Avenue, Taunton
Arthur Robert Checkley Barker was born on 29 March 1909 in Bristol, to Mabel and L. C. Barker, a railway engineer. In 1937 he married Sheila Parsons. Sheila was from Taunton, and the couple made their home there. In 1942 a son, Rodney, was born. During the war he served in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, which maintains and repairs army equipment, where he was promoted to acting major.
On 5 June 1943 Barker died in an accident while on military service, probably in the district of Bodmin, Cornwall. We do not know precisely what happened, but the treeless landscape of Bodmin Moor would have been suitable for manoeuvres by the armoured vehicles on which Barker would probably have spent much of his time. Robert is buried in St Mary’s Cemetery, Taunton.