Pte 203014 Charles Edward Barker

• Age: 21
• From: Liverpool
• Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 19th Btn
• K.I.A Friday 10th May 1918
• Commemorated at: Tyne Cot Memorial
  Panel Ref: Panel 31-34

Charles Edward was born in the September quarter of 1896 at 7 Signal Cottages, Fazakerley to Sandbach born joiner John Thomas Barker and his Standish born wife Ellen (née Moss). They married at St. John The Evangelist, Walton in the September quarter of 1895 and had 4 boys and 2 girls. Charles Edward was their first born.

The 1901 Census shows the family are still at 7 Signal Cottages, Fazakerley. Charles Edward is now 4 years of age. His father is shown as a 30 year old joiner, whilst his mother is 29. Also present are his siblings; May aged 2 and Agnes aged just 6 months. 

He enlisted in Liverpool and was serving in the 19^th Battalion, The King’s Liverpool Regiment as Private No 203014 when he was killed in action on the 10^th May 1918 during the German Spring Offensive.

He was initially reported as Missing:-

Weekly Casualty List – 16th July 1918

Missing

King’s(Liverpool Regiment) - Barker, 203014, C. E. (Liverpool);

Also in the Liverpool Weekly Courier on Saturday 03 August 1918:

Reported Missing. 

Private Charles E. Barker of the King’s (Liverpool) Regiment is reported missing as from 10th of May, and any information regarding him will be gratefully received by his anxious parents who reside at 446 Longmoor Lane, Fazakerley. 

Charles' body was not recovered from the battlefield or was subsequently lost as he has no known grave and is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial, Belgium.

Those United Kingdom and New Zealand servicemen who died after August 16th 1917 are named on the Tyne Cot Memorial, a site which marks the furthest point reached by Commonwealth forces in Belgium until nearly the end of the war.

The Tyne Cot Memorial now bears the names of almost 35,000 officers and men whose graves are not known. The memorial, designed by Sir Herbert Baker with sculpture by Joseph Armitage and F.V. Blundstone, was unveiled by Sir Gilbert Dyett on 20 June 1927.

The memorial forms the north-eastern boundary of Tyne Cot Cemetery, which was established around a captured German blockhouse or pill-box used as an advanced dressing station.

Charles earned his two medals.

Soldiers Effects, Army Pay of £17 17s 1d, War Gratuity of £6-10s, and Pension to his mother Ellen. 

Charles is commemorated on the following Memorials:

Emmanuel Church, Fazakerley 

Longmoor Lane Council School 

Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway 

His father died ,aged 64, on the 27th December 1936 and was buried on the 06th January 1937 at Kirkdale Cemetery. 

His death was reported in the Liverpool Daily Post on Monday 30 December 1935;  

BARKER— December 27, suddenly, JOHN THOMAS, dearly-beloved husband of Ellen Barker, 30 Fifth-avenue. Service at Emmanuel Church, Fazakerley, on Wednesday next, at 1.30 p.m. at Kirkdale Cemetery.

His mother died, aged 67, in 1939. 

Her death was reported in the Liverpool Echo on Monday 20 March 1939;

DEATHS  

BARKER— March 17, at a nursing home, aged 67 years, ELLEN, dearly-loved widow of John Thomas Barker, late of 30 Fifth Avenue, Fazakerley. Service at Emmanuel Church, to-morrow (Tuesday), at 3 p.m.; interment at Kirkdale Cemetery immediately afterwards.— Lockinvar, Longview Road, Huyton. 

We currently have no further information on Charles Barker, If you have or know someone who may be able to add to the history of this soldier, please contact us.