Next of Kin plaque : Private William Bertie Barker, 20 Battalion, AIF

Bronze next of kin plaque, showing on the obverse, Britannia holding a laurel wreath, the British lion, dolphins, a spray of oak leaves and the words 'HE DIED FOR FREEDOM AND HONOUR' around the edge. Beneath the main figures, the British lion defeats the German eagle. The initials 'ECP', for the designer Edward Carter Preston appear above the lion's right forepaw. A raised rectangle above the lion's head bears the name 'WILLIAM BERTIE BARKER'.

Born in Newcastle, NSW, William Bertie Barker was employed as a smelter at the steelworks when he enlisted in the AIF on 27 August 1915. He had previously served as a driver in the Army Service Corps as part of the compulsory Military Training Scheme. After initial training he was assigned as a private, service number 3754 to reinforcements for the 20th Battalion. He sailed for Egypt from Sydney aboard HMAT A54 Runic on 20 January 1916.
Barker joined his battalion in Egypt shortly before it moved to France for service on the Western Front. He survived the battalion's major battles until & July 1918, when he was killed while in the front line at Vaire Wood, France. He was one of two men killed and ten wounded that day. He was twenty three years old.

Barker is buried in the Longueau British Cemetery. This commemorative plaque was sent to his widowed mother, Charlotte, at the beginning of 1923.