Next of kin plaque: Private Daniel George Campbell, 10th Battalion, AIF

Place Europe: France, Picardie, Somme, Amiens Harbonnieres Area, Harbonnieres
Accession Number REL48127.001
Collection type Heraldry
Object type Heraldry
Physical description Bronze
Maker Royal Arsenal Woolwich
Place made United Kingdom: England, Greater London, London, Greenwich, Woolwich
Date made c 1922
Conflict First World War, 1914-1918
Description

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 'DANIEL GEORGE CAMPBELL'. The reverse of the plaque bears the mark of the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich.

History / Summary

Born in Clare, South Australia, Daniel George Campbell was employed as a blacksmith at Welland, an Adelaide suburb, when he enlisted in the AIF on 7 March 1916. The following month he was posted a private to the 18th Reinforcements for 10th Battalion, but illness combined with a period in hospital meant that after his recovery he was reassigned to the 19th reinforcements for the same battalion in July, and allocated the service number 6130. He sailed for overseas service from Adelaide on 12 August, aboard HMAT A70 Ballarat.

Campbell arrived in England on 30 October, and after training there, joined B Company of his battalion at Bazentin House Camp near Longueval on Christmas Day 1916. He survived one of the battalion's major battles, at Polygon Wood, Belgium in September 1917 but was evacuated to England the following month when an old fracture to his hand broke down. After rest and further training at Sutton Veny Campbell rejoined his battalion at Aldershot Camp near Tournai, Belgium, in February 1918.

Daniel Campbell was killed near Harbonnieres, France on 11 August during the final great allied offensive of the war. His body was not recovered for burial and his name is commemorated on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial.

This memorial plaque was sent to his father, Michael T Campbell, in December 1922.