Next of kin plaque : Corporal Alexander Henry Buckley, 54th Battalion, 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 'ALEXANDER HENRY BUCKLEY'. A checker's mark, '9', is impressed in front of the lion's left hind paw.

Alexander Henry Buckley was born at Warren, New South Wales on 22 July 1891. He was a 24-year-old farmer near Gulargambone when he enlisted in the AIF in February 1916. He joined 54 Battalion on the Somme in November. The following year he fought at Bullecourt and in the battle of Polygon Wood. In April 1918 his battalion moved back to the Somme and took part in the allied counter-offensive which began in August.

Buckley was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross following his battalion's operation at Péronne. The 54th was to take the ground between the town and the river, then move into Péronne "if not too strongly opposed". They moved forward in drizzle and cleared the first line of German trenches, but were then held up by a nest of machine-guns. Buckley charged forward, shot four of the post's occupants and took 22 prisoners. He was killed by machine-gun fire while rushing a second enemy machine gun post that was covering entry to the town.

Buckley was initially buried in an 'isolated grave s/e of Radegonde ¼ mles [sic] W. of Peronne' and later re-interred in the Péronne Communal Cemetery Extension.

This commemorative plaque was sent to Buckley's father, James, in October 1922.