Next of kin plaque : Private Walter Mills, 9th 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 'WALTER MILLS'. In original waxed cardboard box.

Born in Jandowae, Queensland in 1894, Walter Mills was working as a farmer when he enlisted in the AIF at Toowoomba on 4 September 1915. After initial training he was posted a private, service number 4241, to the 13th Reinforcements to the 9th Battalion. He embarked from Brisbane aboard HMAT A55 Kyarra at the beginning of January 1916.

Mills arrived in Egypt on 19 February and after further training there moved to France for service on the Western Front in early April. He formally joined his battalion on 12 May. The battalion's first major battle took places at Pozieres in July, where it suffered numerous casualties. Mills was wounded on 19 July and was evacuated to a casualty clearing station, described as suffering from shell shock. Transferred to the 1st Australian General Hospital at Rouen, he died there on 30 July from what appears to have been a severe concussive injury to his brain. He is buried in the St Sever Cemetery in Rouen.

This commemorative plaque was sent to his father, also Walter Mills, in January 1922.