Next of kin plaque: Trooper Harry Haw Rathbone, 4th Light Horse Machine Gun Squadron, 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 'HARRY HAN [Sic] RATHBONE'.

Born at Tullamore, New South Wales, grazier Harry Haw Rathbone enlisted in the AIF in Sydney on 8 February 1916, aged 22. After training at Bathurst he was posted a trooper, service number 1963, to the 12th Reinforcements for 12th Light Horse Regiment. The unit sailed for overseas service from Sydney, aboard HMAT A58 Kabinga, on 12 September and reached Egypt on 24 October.

After training in Egypt Rathbone transferred to 6th Section, 4th Light Horse Brigade Machine Gun Squadron, joining the unit in Palestine in late February 1917. Rathbone was killed near Aseiferiyah on 19 April during the second battle of Gaza, when he was shot through the chest while carrying ammunition to his gun. The action in which he died was his first experience of battle. He is buried in the Gaza War Cemetery.

This commemorative plaque was sent to his father, William Edward Rathbone, in August 1922. Harry's second given name, Haw, was mistakenly recorded as Han on his service record. Although his father wrote to correct the mistake in 1921 the plaque bears the wrong name. Harry's bother, Arthur Rupert Rathbone, served in the 6th Light Horse Regiment and survived the war.