Next of Kin plaque : Lieutenant George Pickering, 3 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps, AIF

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 'GEORGE PICKERING'.

Born in Brisbane, Queensland, George Pickering was employed as a customs clerk when he enlisted in the AIF on 2 January 1916, aged 21. He had previously served in the Senior Cadets and as a second lieutenant in the 22nd Infantry Regiment. After initial training Pickering was assigned as a private, service number 5158, to the 16th Reinforcements for the 3rd Battalion. He left Sydney aboard the troopship SS Makarini on 1 April.

Pickering trained in Egypt, England and France before joining his battalion in France on 19 February 1917. A month later he left to undertake a mechanic's test run by the Royal Flying Corps. Found suitable, Pickering was appointed a lance corporal on 20 April before transferring to the Australian Flying Corps on 30 April.

In June Pickering was attached to the 29th Training Squadron in England. a month later he joined the 2nd Aeronautics School in Oxford to begin flying training. He graduated as a pilot at the beginning of 1918, and was promoted lieutenant on 2 April, before joining 3 Squadron AFC on 18 April. In August, diagnosed with 'flying sickness' Pickering was given three weeks' leave. He rejoined the squadron on 11 September and remained with it until the end of the October, when he was transferred to duty in England. On 13 November, two days after the end of the war, Pickering was admitted to 3rd London General Hospital at Wandsworth suffering from influenza. He died there on 21 November and was buried in City of London Cemetery.

This commemorative plaque was sent to his father, Frank Pickering, in 1923.