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In reading the letters of WWI flyers and soldiers, it is not uncommon to find young men expressing the hope that they might win a medal or two, especially the Victoria Cross. The desire of 19th century men to live up to a noble ideal, to honour their country and their family, often overwhelmed their instincts for survival. The value system of the WWI generation is far, far removed from that of our present day, so actions that might seem to us as reckless, in that era would have been seen as sporting, valiant, and noble. Barker did not set out to win the Victoria Cross, but he was certainly proud of the other decorations he had been awarded, and made sure that his family took equal pride in his heroic achievements. Stewart Taylor has always claimed that no generation of men was braver than those who fought in the air in the Great War, that for sheer devil-take-the-hindmost courage they stand alone in the 20th Century.
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