Joseph Wilfred Barker

Born in Darlington in 1894, he joined the 18th Battalion DLI - the Durham Pals - in 1914 and was badly wounded on 1 July 1916 at Serre - the first day of the Battle of the Somme. He was wounded again at Arras in 1917. In July 1918 at Becque Plate, he rescued wounded men under fire and then, with his platoon commander, drove off an attack by 16 German soldiers. During the attack, a grenade fell amongst the wounded men, Sergeant Barker picked it up and threw it back, killing 2 Germans. For his bravery, he was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal. He served with the Royal Engineers during the Second World War. Joseph Barker worked for British Rail at Darlington and died in 1970, aged 76 years.