In an England devastated by the terrible losses of the First World War, Colonel Victor Barker was a rare man indeed. Dashing, well respected, with impeccable manners, he was a model gentleman. His wife was proud of his good breeding and fine looks, and his young son worshipped him as a war hero.
But beneath the army uniform and bearing Barker hid an astonishing secret. In April 1929, following a sensational trial at the Old Bailey, the good colonel was sentenced to nine months' imprisonment. For Colonel Barker was, in fact, a woman. Her real name was Valerie Lilias Arkell-Smith, the most infamous "man-woman" of them all.
