Ray Barker

Infobox Military Person
name= Ray Barker |lived= Dec 10, 1889 – June 28, 1974
placeofbirth= New York State


caption= Ray Barker
allegiance=United States of America
Allied Forces
serviceyears=1910–1946
rank=Major General
commands=Allied Forces
battles=European Theater of World War II
laterwork=Head of The Manlius School,
Manlius, New York

Ray Barker (Dec 10, 1889 - Jun 28, 1974) was a Major General of the Allied Forces, and served in the European Theater of Operations During World War II. General Barker was a key member of the combined United States-British group, which became known as COSSAC (Chief of Staff to Supreme Allied Commander). This group planned the Battle of Normandy, codenamed "Operation Overlord", also known as D-Day, which liberated Occupied France. He served as the Deputy Chief of Staff of the European Theater from 1943-1944, and Deputy Chief of Staff for Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force. In 1945, he served as Director of Army division to supervise demilitarization of Germany.

Negotiations

In 1945, Major General Ray Barker, the SHAEF Assistant Chief of Staff for Personnel (G-1), was the officer responsible for recovery of Allied POWs.Between 16 and 22 May 1945, Major General Ray W. Barker, and Lieutenant General K.D. Golubev, representing the Soviet repatriation authority, met at Halle, Germany. The general principles agreed to at Yalta provided the framework for the Halle discussions. With respect to the return of western Allied prisoners, the Halle meeting centered on working out the administrative details for the prompt release and return to SHAEF control of all British and American POWs, using available air or motor transport. Despite the seemingly straight forward-nature of this problem, the Soviets prolonged the negotiations, citing practical and administrative obstacles and tying rapid release of American, British, and other Allied POWs to repatriation of all Soviet prisoners and displaced persons in the West, many of whom did not want to return to the Soviet Union. The conferees finally reached agreement on a plan in the early morning hours of 22 May. They finalized delivery and reception points for each side, transportation plans, daily transit capacities of each of the reception-delivery points, and other details. Barker and Golubev signed the Halle Agreement on 22 May 1945. However, most Americans liberated by the Soviets in central Germany and along the Baltic coast, had been exchanged by local arrangement prior to implementation of the Halle Agreement on 23 May.

The Manlius School

Ray Barker served as the headmaster at The Manlius School, an independent, non-sectarian, college-preparatory military school for boys in the town of Manlius in Central New York. Barker served from 1946 until 1960.

Primary sources

* [http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:Csbxk8BIMNsJ:www.eisenhower.archives.gov/listofholdingshtml/listofholdingsB/BARKERRAYWPapers194246.pdf+cossac+barker+overlord&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us&client=firefox-a BARKER, RAY W.: Papers, 1942-46. DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER LIBRARY: ABILENE, KANSAS. 3-31-75]
* [http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-E-XChannel/USA-E-XChannel-Biblio.html Harrison, Gordon. "Cross Channel Attack", European Theater of Operations.]
* [http://www.aiipowmia.com/wwii/wwiiwkgrp.html 1992-1996 Findings Of The WWII Working Group]
* [http://www.mph.net/about/history_man.cfm Durston, Harry C., History of The Manlius School. 1966]

External links

* [http://www.eisenhower.archives.gov/listofholdingshtml/finding_aids_b.html Papers of Ray W. Barker, Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library]