The 49th Division, another first-line TA formation, had previously fought in the Norwegian Campaign in April 1940, although it had left behind the divisional troops and only two of its three brigades, the 146th and 148th, both poorly-trained and equipped, and the divisional HQ, had fought. After evacuating from Norway, two of the division's brigades, the 146th and 147th, had been sent to garrison Iceland, not returning to the United Kingdom until 1942, whereby the division was reconstituted, now with the 70th Brigade replacing the 148th. As it had been stationed in Iceland, the division's insignia was that of a polar bear. Barker, however, believed the original design, featuring the polar bear with its head facing downwards, made the animal look too timid and had it changed into a more aggressive-looking animal. The new design featured the bear with its head thrown back and roaring. By the time Barker became GOC, the 49th "Polar Bears" Division had been selected to join the British Second Army, then commanded by Lieutenant General Sir Kenneth Anderson, which was formed in July to take part in the Allied invasion of Normandy, then scheduled for May 1944. The division formed part of I Corps, then under Lieutenant General Gerard Bucknall, later replaced in August 1943 by Lieutenant General John Crocker. As a result, the division undertook training in amphibious warfare, mainly in Scotland. Whilst he was there Barker, nicknamed "Bubbles", apparently gained a reputation as a "demon for physical fitness and field training", according to Captain A. P. Whitehead of the 70th Brigades' 1st Battalion, Tyneside Scottish, who further wrote that "under his command the whole Division rapidly became a battleschool". On 1 January 1944 Barker was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB).