Frame for next of kin plaque : Private D U Barclay, 3 Light Horse Regiment, AIF

Tin plated brass cross, designed to be hung on a wall, as a frame to hold a next-of-kin plaque. The central section that holds the plaque is designed as a wreath, bound together by crossed ribbons bearing the dates of each year of the First World War: 1914-1915, 1915-1916, 1916-1917 and 1917-1918. The back of the cross bears the manufacturer's name and details, 'WRIGHT & SON - EDGWARE . MIDDX. ENG./ REGD DESIGN No 680784'.

David Urquhart Barclay was a twenty seven year old clerk at the Commercial Bank of Tasmania when he enlisted for service in the AIF on 4 December 1914. He was allocated the service number 801 and assigned as a trooper to the 2nd reinforcements for 3 Light Horse Regiment (3 LHR), part of 1 Light Horse Brigade. After training in Melbourne he embarked on the troopship SS A45 Hessen on 2 February 1915, and was taken on strength with his regiment in Egypt and assigned to C Squadron.

The regiment arrived at Gallipoli, without their horses, on 9 May, and acted in reserve throughout most of the campaign. Barclay was evacuated sick for a week in September, and slightly wounded on 10 October at Destroyer Hill, North Anzac, when he elected to remain with the regiment. 3 LHR was withdrawn from Gallipoli on 14 December, and travelled via Mudros to Alexandria, arriving on 26 December.

Between January and May 1916 3 LHR were deployed to protect the Nile Valley from bands of pro-Turkish Senussi Arabs. On 16 May they were reunited with the units of 1 Light Horse Brigade in the defence of the Suez Canal, which culminated in the Battle of Romani between 3 and 6 August, when the Turks were finally forced from their positions near the Canal and the allied advance into Palestine began. Barclay was killed during the battle, on 4 August. He was later buried at Romani el Malor by Chaplain H K Gordon. In 1925, together with the bodies of other light horsemen killed in the battle, Barclay's remains were exhumed and reburied in the Kantara War Memorial Cemetery in Egypt.