Next of kin plaque: Private John Thomas McCague, 8 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 'JOHN THOMAS MCCAGUE'. Conained in original cardboard sleeve.

Born in Monaghan, Ireland, in 1882, John (Jack) Thomas McCague emigrated to Australia with his family when he was eight years old. A farmer from Sea Lake, Victoria, he had recently married when he enlisted in the AIF as part of the Sportsmen's 1000 on 9 July 1917, aged 35. After training at Broadmeadows near Melbourne he was posted a private, service number 7624, to the 25th Reinforcements for 8th Battalion. The unit sailed from Melbourne on 21 November, aboard HMAT Nestor and reached England in January 1918.

After a period of training at Sutton Veny McCague joined his battalion in France on 21 April.

On 9 August the battalion took part in the Battle of Amiens, an allied offensive which was the greatest success in a single day on the Western Front and one that German General Erich Ludendorff described as "the black day of the German Army in this war". In the early stages of the battalion's advance, between Harbonnieres and Rosieres, McCague was wounded in the groin by a shell fragment. He did not appear to be seriously wounded and started to walk out of the line. Nothing further was heard of him until the battalion was advised of his burial at the Clump Trench Cemetery near Vauvillers. McCague's remains were later reinterred at the Rosieres Communal Cemetery Extension in 1920.

In the years following the war his widow, Winifred Marian McCague, received this plaque along with a commemorative scroll from the King, as well as his personal effects, medals and photographs of his grave. She wife requested the following inscription on his headstone: "A TRIBUTE OF LOVE TO THE MEMORY OF MY DEAR HUSBAND". In 1932 she married Arthur Leslie Tarran who had served in the war with the 39th Battalion.

Two of Jack McCague's brothers also served: 612A Corporal James Joseph (Joe) McCague, who was killed near Ypres, Belgium on 3 November 1917, and 38042 Gunner Hugh Alexander McCague (Macague) who survived the war.