Next of Kin plaque : Lieutenant Robert Muter, 57th 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 'ROBERT MUTER'. There is a three pronged fitting at the rear to display the plaque in an upright position.

Born in Cowdenbeath, Scotland, Robert Muter had completed two years of a photographic apprenticeship when he emigrated to Australia in 1913 to join his parents who had already settled in Victoria. He was working as a photographer when he enlisted in the AIF on 23 August 1914. Assigned a private, service number 121, to A Company, 5th Battalion, Muter sailed for Egypt with the first convoy, aboard HMAT A3 Orvieto. Muter landed at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915 as part of the second wave. He was wounded in the thigh in May at Cape Helles and was evacuated to Malta, returning to his battalion on 24 August. In Egypt, in 1916, he was promoted to lance corporal in February, and then corporal in March, shortly before he was transferred to D Company of the newly raised 57th Battalion.

The battalion arrived in France in late June, and took part in its first major battle on the Western Front on 19 July, without the benefit of an introduction to the trenches in a "quiet" sector. The battle of Fromelles was a disaster. Fortunately for the 57th it was allocated a supporting role and suffered relatively light casualties compared to its sister battalions. Muter was promoted to sergeant shortly after the battle. In September he was promoted in the field to second lieutenant.

Muter received a gunshot wound to the knee near Gueudecourt in March 1917. After hospital treatment and further officer training he rejoined his unit in January 1918. For his role in a trench raid on the night if 11/12 March, east of Messines in Belgium, he was awarded the Military Cross.

Lieutenant Muter died of wounds received near Villers-Bretonneux, France, on 25 April. His battalion reported: 'He was carried out to our Battalion R.A.P. [Regimental Aid Post] and temporarily dressed, afterwards he was taken to the Casualty Clearing Station at Daours but died before reaching there'. Lieutenant Colin Forrest wrote: 'On the night of 25th April during a counter bombardment...my friend was severely wounded, while his company Commander, Capt Morgan, was killed outright by the same shell. The best medical attention was given Muter, but in spite of all that was done for him, he died a few hours later...although poor old Muter was so severely wounded...he did not suffer a great deal of pain and he was conscious and cheery to the end.'

Robert Muter is buried in the Daours Communal Cemetery Extension. This memorial plaque was sent to his father, William, in December 1922.