Roll of Honor
Incident
Responding to a false report that a vehicle had gone into the River Derwent, PC Barker was searching for casualties and, at the same time, guiding vehicles away from Northside Bridge in Workington, as he checked it for damage. While doing so, in the early hours of the morning, the part of the bridge on which he was standing collapsed and he was thrown into the river and swept away.
His body was found later the same day on a beach at Allonby, eight miles downstream.
The following day would have been Bill’s 45th birthday.
The inquest in Cleator Moor heard that PC Barker was knocked unconscious with a blow to the head as he landed in the debris-strewn water. A post-mortem examination concluded he died from a combination of blunt head trauma and drowning.
PC Barker, who was from Egremont, had been an officer with Cumbria Constabulary for twenty-five years, serving mainly in the roads policing unit. He had received a number of commendations from the force, including one from the Chief Constable.
He left a wife and four children and was posthumously awarded the Queen’s Commendation for Bravery.
A new crossing to replace the bridge was named after PC Barker and opened by HRH The Princess Royal in October 2012.
In Our Keeping
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BO-GB-CUC-80194D51- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- April 8, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Police Constable Barker served with the Cumbria Constabulary.
Thank you for your service. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Police Constable Barker.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Police Constable William Arthur Alastair Barker is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In ENG, 1,349 of 2,827 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 47.7% of this state's fallen. That is 16.7 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.
At Cumbria Constabulary, 6 of 8 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 75% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. William Arthur Alastair Barker's cause is highlighted.
How William Arthur Alastair Barker Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. William Arthur Alastair Barker is highlighted in Nov.
Others Who Wore This Badge
7 officers from Cumbria Constabulary are honored on badge.nw.
