During the latter, he commanded the 10th Brigade during the Battle of France in 1940, the 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division and the VIII Corps in the Western Europe Campaign from 1944 to 1945.

He is remembered for his anti-Semitism and his controversial order in the wake of the King David Hotel bombing in July 1946 in which he declared, "[We] 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.

[8] Barker, who had by now gained the nickname "Bubbles", was still in India with his battalion when the First World War began in August 1914.

[3] In October 1939, one month after the outbreak of the Second World War, Barker took his brigade to France as part of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF).

[25] After many months of relative inactivity, called the Phoney War, Germany on 10 May launched its assault on the Western Front.

[1][27] He was mentioned in despatches on 26 July, and made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire on 20 August for his services in France and Belgium.

Barker believed the original design looked too timid and had the polar bear redesigned into a more aggressive-looking animal.

[27] When Barker became GOC, the division had been selected to join the British Second Army to take part in the Allies' invasion of Normandy.

It was initially assigned to be an assault division in the opening of the invasion and as a result Barker had his men undertake amphibious warfare training.

[27] Barker was confident about the ability of his troops and wrote 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 ...

The division eventually secured its objective and fended off repeated German counterattacks over four days and inflicted heavy tank losses.

[27] The division played a minor role in the rest of the campaign and helped capture Le Havre during Operation Astonia.

[34] Barker's division undertook defensive duties and captured the Dutch town of Roosendaal on 30 October after ten days of hard fighting.

[34] In November, Barker's division was assigned to clear the west bank of the River Maas on the Dutch-German frontier.

[34] As part of taking his new command, Barker was promoted to the acting rank of lieutenant general on 2 December.

[36] After the German capitulation and the end of World War II in Europe, Montgomery appointed Barker to head the Schleswig-Holstein Corps District of the British occupation zone.

The evening dances in the Karm al Mufti mansion, the Shepherd Hotel, were attended by diplomats, artists and British officers.

"[49] Barker saw capital punishment as an effective deterrent and argued for a wide application of the death penalty to Zionist guerillas.

And, subject to Alan Cunningham's [the High Commissioner of Palestine] final say, I would confirm the death sentence".

Montgomery 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.

Having the long-awaited order to arrest the leaders of the Jewish Agency, which was now believed to be complicit in terrorism, Barker organised Operation Agatha.

The operation began on 29 June, with tens of thousands of soldiers and policemen employed in a cordon-and-search action in almost every Jewish settlement.

[53] Afterwards, Barker drafted an order that placed "out of bounds to all ranks all Jewish establishments, restaurants, shop, and private dwellings".

The order forbade British soldiers in Palestine from having "social intercourse with any Jew" and noted, "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.

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.

"[55] With information that the Irgun ring was responsible for the King David Hotel bombing was hiding in Tel Aviv, Barker organised a massive police operation in the city.

"[56] The police action in Tel Aviv, codenamed Operation Shark, began on 30 July and achieved several successes.

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.

In 1977, after it was revealed that the future President of Israel, Ezer Weizman, was involved in one of these attempts, Barker commented: "I expect he's glad that he failed in his mission.

[4] On 1 January 1951, Barker was made the Honorary Colonel of the 286th (Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire Yeomanry) Regiment, Royal Artillery, and held that post until 31 December 1962.