Thomas Barker was born on 11th December, 1923 at 49 Market Terrace, Storeywood, Newhills, Aberdeen, Scotland. He was the son of Thomas and Lily Barker.
When he was aged just three years, Tommy's mother Lily died. Afterwards, the young Tommy was brought up by his grandparents. As Tommy's father, also Thomas, was in the Royal Navy, this meant frequent relocation to be as close as possible to young Tommy's father's home port. At one point the family were based at Felixstowe to be close to the seaplane testing station there.
The photo on the left shows Tommy during his time in Hood. The photo on the right shows Tommy as a boy, aged 11 years.
The remainder of the photos on this and the following page show Tommy at various points during his life.
Above- Tommy's first job, Grocers delivery boy.
Tommy is second from left
Above- In 1935 Tommy's father had remarried to Millicent.
They had two daughters and a son, Michael who submitted
these photographs to the site. The picture below shows the
Barker family as it was in 1939. Tommy and his father are
in the back with Millicent and the two girls at the front. Michael was not born until 1947.
Above- In 1938 Tommy followed in his father's footsteps
by becoming a "Ganges Boy" and joining the Royal Navy.
Both are shown here in Scarborough during 1938.
Above- Tommy is shown here with his two
young sisters and his grandmother in Scarborough
sometime during 1939
Above- Tommy trained at H.M.S. Caledonia before joining Hood. The above three photos show Tommy (left) and a chum at Caledonia in 1939.