Sidney Clare Barker worked for the Norwich Union Fire Insurance Society Ltd. in the Norwich head office. Known in the office as ‘the reverend’ he had enlisted by December 1915 and by the time of his death he was serving as a Lieutenant in the Norfolk Regiment 3rd/4th Battalion attached 9th Battalion.  He was initially reported missing "on the first day of the great German attack" then reported killed. According to a contemporary report he was wounded by two machine gun bullets and died while being bandaged. His obituary in the staff magazine said he was: "A strong personality, coupled with a keen sense of humour, he was suited to a different sphere of life from that of a clerk. Humour and laughter were his accompaniment through life. He was seldom angry, and even when roused his natural good temper was soon uppermost. It can be said of Barker that he had no enemy and many friends. He was the kind of man who endures cheerfully the most adverse circumstances. Such men were the elixir of life in the Army, and his cheery presence is sadly missed at Head Office." He was 29.

Anna Stone