Next of kin plaque: Captain Howard de Nyst Williams, 51st 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 'HOWARD DeNYST WILLIAMS'. A checker's mark, '21', is impressed behind the lion's rear left paw and tail.

Born in Moonee Ponds, Victoria, on 9 April 1893 Howard de Nyst Williams was employed as a clerk in the Accounts Branch of the General Post Office in Perth, Western Australia when he enlisted in the AIF on 14 July 1915. He had already served as a Non-Commissioned Officer in the school cadets, and as a lieutenant in the Universal Training Scheme for two years. After basic training he was appointed a second lieutenant in the 10th Reinforcements to the 11th Battalion. He left Fremantle for overseas service on 13 September, aboard HMAT A32 Themistocles.

In Egypt Williams transferred to the 51st Battalion at the end of February 1916. He was promoted lieutenant the following month and captain at the beginning of July. The battalion's first major engagements took place at Mouquet Farm in August and September, in which it lost a third of its men. Williams was killed on 3 September, during the second battle. He was 23 years old. His body was not recovered for burial and he is commemorated on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial. The battalion's commanding officer wrote: '[the] attack was unsuccessful and we were forced back, after suffering enormous casualties... the bodies were not buried but a Battalion cross was erected to the memory of all.'

This memorial plaque was sent to Williams' mother, Rose, in March 1923.