His initial education was at Crwys Road Board School in Cardiff and, "after working as a collier and later as a porter on the Great Western Railway", Barter joined the British Army as a private in the Royal Welsh Fusiliers (later the Royal Welch Fusiliers) in December 1908.

[1] After completing his terms of service he transferred to the army's Special Reserve before "working as a stove repairer for the Cardiff Gas Light & Coke Company" when the First World War broke out in the summer of 1914.

[1] On 5 August, the day after the British declaration of war on Germany, Barter was mobilised for service with the 1st Battalion of the RWF.

The battalion "landed at Zeebrugge on 7 October" and, "by the 30th of the month", had been "reduced to 86 men and one officer after heavy fighting at Zonnebeke and Zandvoorde".

The MC's citation reads as follows: For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty when ordered to make a flank attack.