Next of kin plaque: Gunner Rupert Henry Crespin, 11 Field Artillery Brigade, 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 'RUPERT HENRY CRESPIN'. The plaque is contained in a shallow wooden dish-shaped frame, supplied by 'Bernard's Modern Fine Art Galleries, Bourke St Melbourne', and is held in position by a backing card which is tacked into place.

Rupert Henry Crespin was an 18 year old engineering student when he enlisted for service in the AIF at Melbourne, Victoria, on 17 May 1916, with the permission of his father. After training in Australia as an artillery reinforcement, with the service number 34053, he sailed for overseas service aboard the troopship HMAT A11 Ascanius on 11 May 1917, arriving in England on 20 July. Crespin undertook further training at Larkhill, before moving to France in September 1917. Here he was briefly assigned 4 Divisional Ammunition Column before transferring to the 111th Battery of 11 Field Artillery Brigade (FAB) on 27 October. Crespin was killed at Melincourt, near Albert, on 5 April 1918, when the 4th Division, with the 10th FAB and 11th FAB, was sent to hold back 4 German Divisions.

Fourteen men from his unit were killed on this day. They were buried in a communal grave in the civilian cemetery at Frenchencourt. A driver from the battery, Henry Gordon Rice, who was a carpenter by trade, erected a railing around the grave bearing the names of the dead, placed where the rail corresponded with the head of each grave. He also constructed a cross, which he placed in the centre of the graves, which read, 'In Loving Memory of Officer, N.C.O.'s, and men of 4th Div. Aust. A.F.A. K/A 5-4-18. R.I.P.'. Although the men were given separate graves with individual headstones after the war, they remain in the same cemetery.

This commemorative plaque was sent to Crespin's brother, George, in November 1922