Born in July 1892 in Paddington, London, Second Lieutenant Raymond-Barker was killed in action on 25th September 1915 at Loos, France. He was 23.

He was the only son of Cecil Stuart Raymond-Barker (1857-1931), solicitor, and Margaret Frances Raymond-Barker (nee Clarke, 1860-1936), of 38, Norfolk Square, Hyde Park, London.

He had an elder sister, Frances Caroline (1891-1984) and a younger sister, Margaret Anne (b.1902).

He joined Saint Ronan’s in 1905 and was placed in Class I.B. In October 1905, The Ronian reported that he had been made a Prefect. He also won prizes for Classics and Mathematics. The Ronian also recorded his cricketing prowess, “Has a good defence and plenty of nerve”.

Following Saint Ronan’s Cecil went on to Harrow.

In September 1909 The Ronian recorded that Cecil had distinguished himself at Harrow with his cricketing talents. In January 1910 he was awarded his House Colours.

At the outbreak of War, Cecil enlisted in the County of London Regiment (Artists Rifles), 28th Battalion as a Private and went with them to France in October 1914 on the SS “Australind”.

He was one of the fifty public school boys asked for by Sir John French, Commander in Chief of the British Expeditionary Force, who volunteered to take the place of officers killed. At that time, the Artists earned the sobriquet of “The Suicide Club” as it was said they “looked death straight in the face, laughing and smiling”. Cecil was one of the “First Fifty” to join the Artists. A roll of the NCOs and men who went into action in November 1914, as probationary Second Lieutenants in the 7th Division.

The only officer training they received was a two hour talk by their Battalion Commander, Lieutenant-Colonel May and a copy of the Field Service Pocket Book before the Commanding Officer fixed Second Lieutenant stars to the shoulder straps of their uniforms. So dressed they joined their new companies in 7th Division, many finding themselves the only officer and therefore Company Commander.

Lieutenant-Colonel May, the Commanding Officer of the Artists Rifles later wrote: “Surely they were the most rapidly trained and scantily equipped young officers ever produced by the British Army”.

There were in fact many more. After the “First Fifty” a stream of officers provided by the Artists grew to reach a total of 10,256 before the War was over. This was more than the number commisioned through Sandhurst in the same period.

In November 1914 he was gazetted as Lieutenant with the Royal Scots Fusiliers, 2nd Battalion and went at once into the trenches in command of a Company. He would have been serving with this particular battalion at the same time as another Old Ronian, Second Lieutenant Archdale Walker.

Early in December 1914, Lieutenant Raymond-Barker was invalided home with typhoid and was sent to Mrs Hall Walker’s Hospital at Sussex Lodge. After recovering from his illness, and also from an operation for appendicitis, he was posted to the 2nd Battalion Rifle Brigade. He returned to France in July 1915, landing at Boulogne.

In January 1915, The Ronian reported on the military service given by its former pupils, including Cecil:
“We have also heard from Raymond-Barker, Joe Lawson and others, who are at the front, and from Jack Havers and Rook Cobbold in the North Sea. Unfortunately, we have not these letters with us at this moment, they are safely locked away at S. Ronan’s; but Raymond-Barker gave an interesting account of a shooting match he had with a German sniper; he succeeded in killing his adversary, but not till the later had put a bullet within 3 inches of his head into the woodwork of the trench.”

In September 1915, The Ronian reported that he had made a visit to Saint Ronan’s.

The 12th Battalion engaged in various actions on the Western Front. At the Battle of Loos on 25th September 1915, Lieutenant Raymond-Barker led the first line of his Battalion into the German trenches. After an hour and a half there, it became necessary to warn the British Artillery who were beginning to shell the trenches, and he volunteered to take a message back through a quarter of a mile of heavy rifle and shellfire. He succeeded in reaching the British trenches, and in delivering his message, but was shot through the heart.

The Battle of Loos took place from 25th September until 8th October 1915 and was the biggest British attack of 1915. It was the first time that the British used poison gas and the first mass engagement of New Army units. The fierceness of the fighting was such that only 2,000 of the 8,500 soldiers killed on the first day of the attack have a known grave.

On a previous occasion it was recorded that he disentangled a live catapult bomb with his fingers and threw it out of the trench, thereby saving the lives of many of his men.

Major Pigott, then commanding the 12th Rifle Brigade, wrote to his father:
“His loss will be great to the Battalion, as he was a most capable officer, and invaluable to the Battalion, because he had previous experience of this class of warfare, which no one else had. His genial nature endeared him to us all…. Your son died a great death in a just cause.”

A brother-officer wrote:
“I feel I must tell you what he has done out here. His men simply loved him, of that I am absolutely certain, and he was without exception the pluckiest fellow I have ever met.”
Another brother-officer wrote:
“He was most popular among his Platoon, and the men all feel alike their great loss in him. He was taking an important message to Major Pigott under heavy fire and was in the act of getting over our own parapet, out of danger, when he was shot through the heart. He behaved excellently during the whole action and died while carrying out a most dangerous exploit.”

In January 1916, The Ronian published the following extract from the letter of a brother-officer:
“His men simply loved him, and he was without exception the pluckiest fellow I have ever seen. This may seem a big statement to make, but everyone will tell you the same. He took the first line of the battalion over the parapet to the German trenches.” Raymond-Barker was shot while taking a message from his Colonel; he was under heavy fire all the time and was almost in safety when it happened. He had a very strong sense of humour, and was always cheery. Our very deep sympathy is with his parents to whom his death was a terrible blow. We shall always remember him with affection and pride at S. Ronan’s.”

Lieutenant Raymond-Barker is also commemorated on The Artists’ Rifles Memorial, London and listed in The Artists’ Rifles “First Fifty”.