The Barstows were an Army family since the eighteenth century; his father Thomas fought in the Second Afghan War.
He was the brother of Brigadier John Anderson Barstow, who was killed in 1941, Lieutenant Edmund Leonard Barstow, killed fighting in Kūt in early 1917 whilst on attachment to the 36th Sikhs[2] and Primrose Cheshire, mother of Group Captain Leonard Cheshire V.C.the famous Second World War Bomber pilot.
The generosity of his widow, Nancy had a part to play in the establishment of disability charity Leonard Cheshire.
He subsequently served in the 1920 Iraqi revolt and in India, after attending the Staff College, Camberley from 1924 to 1925,[5] and was Commanding Officer (CO) of the 2nd Battalion, 11th Sikh Regiment between 1933 and 1935.
[citation needed] At the start of the Second World War, Barstow was Commander of Waziristan District, and was invested as a Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire in recognition of his service.