Toowoomba watchmaker Harold Barker was 31 when he enlisted for the war in 1915. He had played soccer for Newtown as early as 1906 and was one of several former players on the Toowoomba British Football Association honour board whose local career had finished before enlistment.
While fighting in France in mid-1916, Barker was shot in the thigh, necessitating his evacuation to England. He returned to France a year later, and soon after earned a promotion to Lance corporal, only to be shot in the left arm, thigh and side in September. He would not return to France until February 1918, and reportedly received shrapnel wounds in the ensuing months.
His war ended with a court martial in December finding him guilty of allowing a prisoner under his care to escape in August.
Barker returned to Australia in June 1919, but took his own life in March 1927, aged 40. His obituary in the Toowoomba Chronicle stated he had been injured four times during the war, including being gassed, leading to ill-health and the inability to resume his occupation on his return.