Evelyn Barker

A month after the start of World War II, in October 1939, Barker took his brigade to France as part of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), where they remained for the next few months.[29] The 10th Brigade was one of three which formed part of the 4th Division. The other two brigades, the 11th under Brigadier Kenneth Anderson, and the 12th under Brigadier John Hawkesworth, the latter who Barker had attended the Staff College with in the late 1920s.[29] The division itself was under the command of Lieutenant General Alan Brooke's II Corps.[29][30]

After many months of relative inactivity (which led this period to be known as the "Phoney War") the German Army launched its assault on the Western Front on 10 May 1940. By this time, however, Barker was on leave in England and, upon hearing the news of the German invasion, immediately set off back to his unit, accompanied by Lieutenant Colonel Brian Horrocks, who had received orders to command a battalion. Horrocks later wrote about this incident in his autobiography, where he described Barker as being "as usual, very cheerful, and brimming over with energy".[31] The brigade, together with the rest of the division advanced to Brussels but, soon afterwards, was ordered to retreat and, from 19 to 22 May, fought to hold the line of the Escaut.[29] On 27 May Barker's brigade was briefly transferred to the 5th Division (with only two brigades), which was then holding the Ypres-Comines canal against an assault by three German divisions.[29] The brigade was ordered to hold the gap between the 5th and 50th Divisions but was reinforced by Anderson's 11th Brigade as the task was too difficult. The 3rd Division, part of II Corps, was ordered to move round the left of the corps to allow the 5th and 50th Divisions to form a coherent line. The day after, Barker was ordered to retreat to the Dunkirk perimeter, which it did, with most of the brigade, which had sustained heavy losses, being evacuated to England on 31 May.[32] Peter Young, then a platoon commander in the 2nd Battalion, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment (part of Barker's brigade), was impressed by Barker during this period, writing that he was "the coolest man you could wish to see under fire. He seemed to like it; indeed I feel sure that he did. He liked to observe his officers and men in times of stress, because it helped to weigh them up. After so many years I am not ashamed to confess that I always felt braver when he was present".[33]

After returning to England he remained in command of the brigade until October 1940 and, after handing over to Brigadier Walter Clutterbuck on 6 October, Barker spent the next two months as member of a Transportation Committee, which saw him temporarily reduced to the rank of colonel.[1][32] He was mentioned in despatches on 26 July[34] and made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) on 20 August for his services in France and Belgium.[9]

However, on 11 February 1941, Barker, in common with many other officers of his rank who had fought in France and Belgium, was, at the relatively young age of 46, promoted to the acting rank of major general[35] and became General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 54th (East Anglian) Infantry Division, a first-line Territorial Army (TA) formation, in succession to Major General John Priestman, who was 9 years older than Barker.[4] Despite being a first-line formation, the division contained a large number of second-line units, due to the division splitting with its second-line duplicate, the 18th Division, on a geographical basis. Barker trained his troops well in anti-invasion duties throughout the United Kingdom until, in January 1942, the division was placed on the Lower Establishment, which meant the division, in addition to receiving low priority for equipment, lost much of its artillery and other supporting units, and men were constantly being sent on overseas drafts to replace casualties, which severely hampered training.[32] On 11 February 1942 Barker's rank of major general was made temporary,[36] and permanent on 22 January (with seniority backdated to 17 November 1941).[37] The drafting process continued throughout 1942 and into 1943 until, on 14 April 1943, Barker handed over the 54th Division to Major General Charles Wainwright, and was ordered to become GOC of the 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division on 30 April.[7]

The unsatisfactory "timid-looking" polar bear.

The new "aggressive" polar bear.

The 49th Division, another first-line TA formation, had previously fought in the Norwegian Campaign in April 1940, although it had left behind the divisional troops and only two of its three brigades, the 146th and 148th, both poorly-trained and equipped, and the divisional HQ, had fought. After evacuating from Norway, two of the division's brigades, the 146th and 147th, had been sent to garrison Iceland, not returning to the United Kingdom until 1942, whereby the division was reconstituted, now with the 70th Brigade replacing the 148th.[32] As it had been stationed in Iceland, the division's insignia was that of a polar bear. Barker, however, believed the original design, featuring the polar bear with its head facing downwards, made the animal look too timid and had it changed into a more aggressive-looking animal. The new design featured the bear with its head thrown back and roaring.[32] By the time Barker became GOC, the 49th "Polar Bears" Division had been selected to join the British Second Army, then commanded by Lieutenant General Sir Kenneth Anderson, which was formed in July to take part in the Allied invasion of Normandy, then scheduled for May 1944. The division formed part of I Corps, then under Lieutenant General Gerard Bucknall, later replaced in August 1943 by Lieutenant General John Crocker. As a result, the division undertook training in amphibious warfare, mainly in Scotland. Whilst he was there Barker, nicknamed "Bubbles", apparently gained a reputation as a "demon for physical fitness and field training", according to Captain A. P. Whitehead of the 70th Brigades' 1st Battalion, Tyneside Scottish, who further wrote that "under his command the whole Division rapidly became a battleschool".[38] On 1 January 1944 Barker was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB).[39]

The 49th Division had originally been selected as one of the initial three assault divisions for the invasion, and had, under Barker, been trained accordingly. However, with General Sir Bernard Montgomery arriving in England from Italy, where he had commanded the British Eighth Army, in early January 1944 to take command of the 21st Army Group (which controlled all ground troops for the invasion) from General Sir Bernard Paget, he almost immediately had the plan recast, increasing the number of assault divisions from three to five, with three airborne divisions in support. Montgomery, who, along with Paget, had been one of Barker's instructors at the Staff College when the latter had attended as a student, also opted for the landings to be undertaken by experienced assault troops, and as a result the 49th Division, despite training for many months as an assault formation, was relegated to a backup role, and Major General Douglas Graham's 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division, which had fought in France and North Africa and had recently conducted an amphibious landing in Sicily, was chosen instead. Although disappointed, Barker's division, in late January, moved to East Anglia and transferred to XXX Corps, under Lieutenant General Gerard Bucknall (formerly GOC I Corps, Bucknall, eager to see action had, in July 1943, requested demotion to command a division in an active theatre of war, being made GOC 5th Division in Italy before returning to England at Montgomery's request to be GOC XXX Corps), and began preparations for the invasion, then scheduled for June, and continued training almost to D-Day itself.[40]

The 49th Division landed in Normandy as part of Operation Overlord on 12 June 1944, six days after the initial Normandy landings (more commonly known as D-Day).[32] Barker was confident about the ability of his troops, writing in his diary on 2 June, "I have a first class party to go with − I am satisfied that my chaps are in as good, if not better shape, than any others.... It will be a grim business but what fun when we see the Boche start to crack. After all these years of waiting I wouldn't miss this for anything." On 7 June he wrote, "News so far seems decidedly good especially that John Crocker's chaps are fighting in Caen.... The Boche seems to have re-acted slower than I expected but his two Panzer Divs appear to be on the move.... It's quite impossible to realise that we are going into battle."[41]

After landing in Normandy he wrote, on 12 June, "The last two or three days have been v. sticky as the Boche has had time to deploy his initial Panzer Divisions. Bobby [Erskine, GOC 7th Armoured Division] and his chaps are getting going again and made splendid progress. The whole thing is to keep this battle fluid and not allow it to crystallise. My guns were in action this pm firing their first shots in anger. The Boche are fighting well but with little support from guns and their air is simply non existent. The country here is frightfully enclosed − typically English country with thick hedges and ditches and their infantry are taking every advantage of it. They are lobbing grenades into the tank turrets and putting sticky bombs on, which Bobb[y] found most disconcerting.... Altogether things have gone really splendidly and everyone is in great heart." Two days later he wrote, "Had breakfast with Andrew Dunlop [CO 146th Brigade] and hatched future plots. The Boche have dug in in front of him and are going to be difficult to move. They lie doggo in the ditches and then appear in the rear shooting everyone up. Bobby [Erskine] finished up last night having retained nearly all the ground he made during the pm."[42]

The division's first contact with the enemy came around Tilly-sur-Seulles on 16 June, where the 6th Battalion, Duke of Wellington's Regiment (6th DWR), of the 147th Brigade, sustained very heavy losses.[32] The division's next engagement, intended to protect the right flank of the newly-arrived VIII Corps taking part in Operation Epsom, was during Operation Martlet on 25 June, with the objective of seizing the Rauray bridge. The first day of the operation went well, with the village of Fontenay, the initial objective, being captured, although Rauray itself was more difficult, eventually falling on 27 June and holding against repeated German counterattacks for four days.[32] The division performed well, although the 6th DWR was later disbanded due to its heavy casualties (and replaced by the 1st Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment), but the defence of Rauray against two SS panzer divisions had impressed Barker's superiors.[32]

The division was withdrawn from the front line a few weeks later, transferring to Lieutenant General Crocker's I Corps, which was then part of the First Canadian Army, on 25 July and played a minor role in the advance towards Falaise.[43] The division, now with the 56th Brigade replacing the 70th Brigade (disbanded due to the British Army's manpower shortage), advanced on the far left of the First Canadian Army towards the Seine, arriving there in late August. The division then, after crossing the river, turned towards the French port Le Havre, capturing it in conjunction with the 51st (Highland) Division while sustaining light casualties in a set-piece assault.[43]

Lieutenant General E. H. Barker, GOC VIII Corps, inspecting an StG-44 and other various captured German weapons during an inspection of the 3rd Division positions, 26 January 1945.

The 49th Division was then temporarily grounded, due to a shortage of supplies such as fuel and transport, with priority being given to XII and XXX Corps, now commanded by Lieutenant General Brian Horrocks, in their pursuit of the retreating German armies into Belgium and for Operation Market Garden. On 21 September the division concentrated in Belgium and liberated Turnhout after crossing the Antwerp-Turnhout Canal.[43] It was during this period that Corporal John Harper of the Hallamshire Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment, of the 146th Brigade, was posthumously awarded the division's first and only VC of the war. The division then spent the next three weeks on the defensive, before capturing the Dutch town of Roosendaal on 30 October, after ten days of hard fighting.[43] By the month's end the division was at Willemstad.[43]

Field Marshal B. L. Montgomery poses for a group photograph with his staff, corps and divisional commanders at Walbeck, Germany, 22 March 1945. Pictured sitting, on the far left, is Lieutenant General E. H. Barker.

The division, in mid-November, transferred from Crocker's I Corps and the First Canadian Army to Lieutenant General Neil Ritchie's XII Corps of the British Second Army, where it was involved in the clearing the west bank of the River Maas on the Dutch-German frontier.[43] On 28 November Barker met Montgomery and Dempsey, GOC Second Army, both of whom were impressed with Barker's handling of the 49th Division, particularly in Normandy, and was informed that he was taking over command of VIII Corps.[43] One of Barker's former Staff College instructors, Lieutenant General Sir Richard O'Connor, GOC VIII Corps, was being transferred to India to take command of the Eastern Army and Barker was appointed the new GOC VIII Corps in his place.[44] Barker, handing over the 49th Division to Major General Gordon MacMillan, who had been a fellow student at the Staff College during Barker's second year there, was promoted to the acting rank of lieutenant general on 2 December,[45] and became GOC in time to see the end of Operation Nutcracker.[43]

From left to right, Lieutenant General Evelyn Barker, Rear Admiral H. T. Baillie-Grohman, and Lieutenant General Miles Dempsey on the Admiral's barge during a tour of Kiel Harbour, Germany, 19 May 1945.

VIII Corps, which did not see much action from the time of Barker's assumption of command, later saw extensive action during the final push into Germany between March and May 1945. The corps, with the 15th Infantry, 11th Armoured and 6th Airborne Divisions under command (along with the 5th Infantry Division from 17 April), captured Osnabrück, Minden, Celle and Lüneburg and later crossed the Elbe. On 15 April, elements of the 11th Armoured Division liberated the remaining survivors of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. After the German capitulation and the end of World War II in Europe, Field Marshal Montgomery appointed Barker to head the Schleswig-Holstein Corps District of the British occupation zone, and he was knighted as a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) on 5 July 1945.[46] During the entire campaign, Barker was twice mentioned in despatches, on 22 March 1945,[47] and again on 10 May.[48]

On 31 December 1945 Barker was made an Honorary Colonel of the Duke of York's Own Loyal Suffolk Hussars,[49] a yeomanry regiment of the TA which had served as an artillery regiment in both the 54th and 49th Divisions under his command, a position he would hold until 1 September 1950.[50] He was also made Colonel Commandant of the KRRC, from 11 February 1946[51] until 10 February 1956.[52][53] On 5 May 1946 his rank of lieutenant general was made permanent (with seniority backdating to 13 September 1944)[54][1] and, soon afterwards, he was sent to Palestine, where he had served before the Second World War, and was appointed GOC of the British Forces in Palestine and Trans-Jordan. The perception of the British government's timidity with regard to the Jews, predominant in military circles, was expressed in the memoirs of Field Sir Bernard Marshal Montgomery, who was now the Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS), the professional head of the British Army, in 1946–48:

"Indecision and hesitation were in evidence all down the line, beginning in Whitehall ... All this had led to a state of affairs in which British rule existed only in name; the true rulers seemed to me to be the Jews, whose unspoken slogan was – 'You dare not touch us.' " [55]

Soon after arriving in Palestine, Evelyn Barker became a frequenter of the Jerusalem haute societe gatherings in the mansion of Katie Antonius. The hostess was the widow of the famous Lebanese-Palestinian intellectual George Antonius, and was known for her intelligence and taste. The evening dances in the Karm al Mufti mansion, the Shepherd Hotel, where Antonius had written his Arab Awakening, were attended by diplomats, artists and British officers. Evelyn Barker, by now married with a son, dallied there with his Arab hostess.[56]

Barker saw capital punishment as an effective discouragement against resorting to arms, and argued for a wide application of the death penalty against Zionist guerillas. That it was never applied in the preceding years, he considered among the major causes of the failure to suppress the insurgency. Barker would later express his position in this way:

"I am in favour of the death penalty for murder, political or otherwise. The one strict law we had was against carrying arms. And it's no good having a law like that if you don't enforce it. So if anyone was caught carrying arms, he was up before a court martial, he could state his case, but if he was found guilty that was it. And, subject to Alan Cunningham's [the High Commissioner of Palestine] final say, I would confirm the death sentence."[57]

In his position on the death penalty, Barker was not only strongly supported by his subordinates, but directly instructed by his superiors. The CIGS, Field Marshal Montgomery, conveyed to Barker that capital punishment of the Jewish militants must be carried out even when British soldiers were held hostage for the sentenced terrorists. When, on 18 June 1946, the Irgun abducted five British officers, to be held as hostages for the recently condemned to death members of the Irgun, Montgomery reacted with an urgent unplanned visit to Palestine for talks with Barker, of which he later recalled:

"I said that General Barker, as the confirming authority for death sentences on Jews convicted by military tribunals, must not be deterred from his duty by threats of the murder of five British officers who had been kidnapped since my visit a few days earlier. This did a good deal to strengthen his resolve. Barker was suffering from a lack of support by the Government authorities; I promised him my full support in his difficult task."[58]

Spurred to deliver, in the middle of June 1946, Barker started planning a large-scale police operation throughout the Yishuv. Having the long-awaited order to arrest the leaders of the Jewish Agency, which was now strongly believed to be complicit in terrorism, Barker organised Operation Agatha in great secrecy and with high hopes of delivering a strong blow to the guerillas. The operation began in early morning of Saturday, 29 June (it became known as "Black Sabbath" among the Yishuv), with tens of thousands of soldiers and policemen employed in a cordon-and-search action in almost every Jewish settlement. By the end of the day, over 2,700 Jews were detained, including some leaders of the Jewish Agency. Dozens of weapon caches were found, including one in the Great Synagogue of Tel Aviv.[59]

Barker was in his office at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem when at 12.37 pm, Monday, 22 July 1946, the southern wing of the building collapsed following a large explosion, which killed 91 people, mostly Britons, Arabs and Jews.[60] It looked immediately apparent (and was very soon confirmed) that the hotel, which housed the headquarters of the Mandate administration, had been targeted by Zionist militants. Shortly after the explosion, Barker was in his office writing the order to his troops:

"The Jewish community of Palestine cannot be absolved from responsibility for the long series of outrages culminating in the blowing up of a large part of the Government offices in the King David Hotel causing grievous loss of life. Without the support, active or passive, of the general Jewish public the terrorist gangs who actually carried out these criminal acts would soon be unearthed, and in this measure the Jews in this country are accomplices and bear a share of the guilt. I am determined that they shall suffer punishment and be made aware of the contempt and loathing with which we regard their conduct. We must not allow ourselves to be deceived by the hypocritical sympathy shown by their leaders and representative bodies, or by their protests that they are in no way responsible for these acts ... I have decided that with effect on receipt of this letter you will put out of bounds to all ranks all Jewish establishments, restaurants, shop, and private dwellings. No British soldier is to have social intercourse with any Jew ... I appreciate that these measures will inflict some hardship on the troops, yet I am certain that if my reasons are fully explained to them they will understand their propriety and will be punishing the Jews in a way the race dislikes as much as any, by striking at their pockets and showing our contempt of them." [61]

Barker later regretted issuing this order:

"My office was in the middle of the building, overlooking the Old City. When I heard the explosion, I walked across the landing and I couldn't see anything, only dust. I was so angry when I found out what had happened that I went straight to my office and wrote an order to the troops, putting all Jewish establishments out of bounds. It was a rotten letter, written on the spur of the moment. I ought to have restrained myself for an hour or two before putting pen to paper."[62]

Speaking specifically of the Palestinian situation, the Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) Middle East Land Forces, Lieutenant General Sir Miles Dempsey (formerly Barker's superior as GOC of the British Second Army), later reported to the War Minister Frederick Bellenger:

"We know that terrorism is tacitly accepted by all and sundry. Were this not so these murderers would soon be apprehended. The people must therefore take the consequences." [63]

With information that the Irgun ring responsible for the King David Hotel bombing was hiding in Tel Aviv, Barker organised a massive police operation in the city. His instructions to his subordinate Major-General James Cassels were short: "Jim, I want you to search Tel Aviv, every single room and attic and cellar in Tel Aviv. Is that quite clear ?"[64]

The police action in Tel Aviv, codenamed Operation Shark, began on 30 July and achieved several successes, including the discovery of a large weapons cache in the city's main synagogue, and the arrest of the LEHI's leader Yitzhak Shamir. But the most important figure of the Zionist underground, Menachem Begin of the Irgun, slipped through British hands. He hid in a secret compartment in his house while British soldiers stayed in his home for two days. General Barker later recalled: "We should have caught him, but the men did not search his house properly. This is one of the problems of search operations. You have to rely on very junior people, and, if they make a mistake, the whole operation can be damaged."[65]

On 24 January 1947, Barker confirmed the death sentence of the Irgun fighter, Dov Gruner. Barker later said in an interview to a researcher:

"This was a cut-and-dried case. Gruner had been caught redhanded, armed and shooting up British troops. His political views were nothing to do with the matter. It's nonsense to say that he was a prisoner of war. There was no war. Even if there had been, the Irgun were not obeying the rules of war. He was a criminal, a murderer. So I took it up to Alan Cunningham and I said, "This is an absolutely definite case of carrying arms and I propose to sign the death warrant. Do you agree? He said he did. It wasn't political. It wasn't referred to London. It was a decision taken by me on the spot." [66]

Barker was a target of the Irgun and the LEHI. In Palestine, explosive devices were placed around his home and at its very door, the GOC sometimes survived due to the vigilance of his officers, other times by luck. Assassination plots followed him to Britain after his return from the Mandate in February 1947. Among the would-be assassins was the future President of Israel, and the nephew of Chaim Weizmann, Ezer Weizman. A former Royal Air Force (RAF) pilot, and now a student of aviation in London, the 23-year-old Ezer Weizman worked with an Irgun colleague tracking Barker to his house and producing a plan to use a bomb against him. Before the duo was able to plant the device into the road, however, Weizman was visited by the police. Having attracted suspicion, the future President quickly left Britain. The story of this plot remained unknown until Weizman himself revealed it in his memoir "On Eagle's Wings" 30 years later. The retired Barker commented on this news in 1977:

"I expect he's glad that he failed in his mission. What good would it have done to kill me? It wouldn't have helped the Jewish cause or the Irgun or anyone else. At least General Weizman has been able to go through the last thirty years without a murder on his conscience."[67]