Next of kin plaque: Lance Corporal Harry Perce Sampson, 37th 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 'HARRY PERCE SAMPSON'.

Born in Port Pirie, South Australia, Harry Perce (Percy) Sampson was employed as a butcher when he enlisted in the AIF on 3 March 1916, aged 24. He had previously served in the militia for six years, in 17th and 24th Light Horse Regiments. During training at Mitchin Camp in Adelaide he was initially considered to be a reinforcement for the light horse, before being posted a private, service number 2152 to the 3rd Reinforcements for 43rd Battalion. The unit embarked from Adelaide on 28 August, aboard HMAT A68 Anchises.

On arrival in Plymouth, England, Sampson was transferred to C Company, 37th Battalion and allocated a new service number, 2261. In France he was promoted lance corporal on 1 February.

Sampson was killed on 27 February during a night raid on German trenches at Houplines by a composite battalion of men from the 37th and 38th Battalions, soon after midnight. Sampson, who was a member of a demolition party was last seen in the German front line trench. His body was not recovered for burial and his name is commemorated on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial. His fellow soldiers recalled that he had been called 'Sammy', was 'lively and pleasant and always laughing and singing'.

This memorial plaque was sent to Sampson's widow, Clara Sophie Sampson, in August 1922. The couple's only child, a son, Douglas Wills Sampson, born in 1915, served with distinction in the RAAF during the Second World War and was awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross.