Major General Ray Wehnes Barker (December 10, 1889 – June 28, 1974) was a United States Army officer of the Allied Forces, and served in the European Theater of Operations during World War II.
Barker was a key member of the combined United States-British group, which became known as COSSAC (Chief of Staff to the Supreme Allied Commander).
This group planned the Battle of Normandy, codenamed "Operation Overlord", also known as D-Day, which liberated Nazi-occupied France.
In January 1946 he assumed command of the 78th Infantry Division, headquartered in Berlin, succeeding Major General Edwin P. Parker Jr.
Barker as the acting Chief of Staff to the Supreme Allied Commander, was able to solidify agreement between the countries of how this should be handled.
In 1945, Barker, as the SHAEF Assistant Chief of Staff for Personnel (G-1), was the officer responsible for recovery of Allied POWs.
However, most Americans liberated by the Soviets in central Germany and along the Baltic coast, had been exchanged by local arrangement prior to implementation of the Halle Agreement on 23 May.
During this tenure, he accompanied retired general Lucius Clay on a trip to Berlin, Germany, for the dedication of that city's Liberty Bell on October 24, 1950.