In late July 1938 Barker handed over the battalion, which he had now commanded and trained for just over two years, to Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Wilson, a fellow KRRC and student at the Staff College, Camberley, although in the year below during Barker's second year there. On 1 August Barker was promoted to brevet colonel and, on the same date, to the temporary rank of brigadier at the relatively young age (in peacetime) of 44, and took command of the 10th Infantry Brigade. The brigade formed part of the 4th Infantry Division, then commanded by Major General Dudley Johnson, a distinguished veteran of the First World War, who had won the Victoria Cross (VC). The brigade, stationed in Shorncliffe, Kent, was one of three in the division, which was then serving under Eastern Command, and had been selected for overseas service as part of an expeditionary force in the event of a war. The fact that Barker, who was promoted to colonel on 20 August (with seniority backdated to 1 July 1937) was selected to command a brigade over the heads of many older and more senior officers was a clear indicator of how Barker's superiors regarded him, although there would inevitably have been some resentment among the officers who had been passed over.