The Australian War Memorial Collection. Test site
Bronze next of kin plaque, showing on the obverse, Britannia holding a laurel wreath, the British lion, dolphins, a spray of oak leaves and the words 'HE DIED FOR FREEDOM AND HONOUR' around the edge. Beneath the main figures, the British lion defeats the German eagle. The initials 'ECP', for the designer Edward Carter Preston appear above the lion's right forepaw. A raised rectangle above the lion's head bears the name 'ARTHUR WILLIAM WILKINS'.
Born at Northam, Western Australia, Arthur William Wilkins was employed as a farmhand at Goomalling when he enlisted in the AIF at the age of 27, on 23 June 1915. After initial training he embarked for overseas service from Fremantle aboard HMAT Anchises at the beginning of September.
Assigned as a private, service number 2691, to 16th Platoon, D Company, 11th Battalion, Wilkins briefly joined his battalion on Gallipoli before being evacuated with mumps. After further training in Egypt the battalion moved to France for service on the Western Front. Wilkins was wounded on 25 July 1916 during the battalion's first major action, at Pozieres. He was lying on a stretcher waiting to be to be taken to a dressing station. A fellow wounded soldier had been taken first. When the bearers returned to collect Wilkins the area had suffered a direct hit from the a shell and no remains could be found. Arthur Wilkins has no known grave and his name is listed on Villers Bretonneux Memorial. This commemorative plaque was sent to his father in 1922.
Bronze next of kin plaque in cardboard box of issue. The plaque shows Britannia and a lion together with the words 'HE DIED FOR FREEDOM AND HONOUR'. The name of the dead soldier, 'WILLIAM JOHN WILSON'
Bronze next of kin plaque, showing on the obverse, Britannia holding a laurel wreath, the British lion, dolphins, a spray of oak leaves and the words 'HE DIED FOR FREEDOM AND HONOUR' around the edge.
Bronze next of kin plaque, showing on the obverse, Britannia holding a laurel wreath, the British lion, dolphins, a spray of oak leaves and the words 'HE DIED FOR FREEDOM AND HONOUR' around the edge.
Bronze next of kin plaque, showing on the obverse, Britannia holding a laurel wreath, the British lion, dolphins, a spray of oak leaves and the words 'HE DIED FOR FREEDOM AND HONOUR' around the edge.
Bronze next of kin plaque, showing on the obverse, Britannia holding a laurel wreath, the British lion, dolphins, a spray of oak leaves and the words 'HE DIED FOR FREEDOM AND HONOUR' around the edge.
Bronze next of kin plaque, showing on the obverse, Britannia holding a laurel wreath, the British lion, dolphins, a spray of oak leaves and the words 'HE DIED FOR FREEDOM AND HONOUR' around the edge.