“he was incredibly brave,
and always put himself on the most dangerous sorties”
![](https://www.thealanpollocksproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Spitfires-at-Sawbridgeworth-Herts-by-Eric-Ravilious-1942-©-IWM-Art.IWM-ART-LD-2125.jpg)
Spitfires at Sawbridgeworth, Herts by Eric Ravilious © IWM 22479
“Air Vice-Marshal John Barker had the rare distinction of commanding in action both a Spitfire squadron and a four-engine heavy bomber squadron; later he took the surrender of the Japanese forces in Kowloon, served during the Palestine conflict and arrested the ringleaders of an attempted coup in Ceylon.