Shoulder belt plate, 40th (2nd Somersetshire) Regiment of Foot : Captain H C Wyse, Eureka Stockade, 1854

Officer's gilt and silver shoulder belt plate for the 40th (2nd Somersetshire) Regiment of Foot. The pattern of plate is for 1824-44 but Wyse evidently continued to wear it rather than replacing it with the more elaborate 1845 pattern. The gilt plate has a silver centre. Superimposed over this is a silver star burst with gilt 'rays' bearing the regiment's battle honours. A circle within this is formed by a gilt laurel wreath and '2ND SOMERSETSHIRE', surmounted by a gilt Victorian crown. In the centre are gilt numerals '40'.

A note attached to the back of the plate, written in 1907 by Henry Burton, formerly a lieutenant in the 40th Foot, states that the plate belonged originally to Captain Wyse (also known as Wise) who was killed at Eureka Stockade in 1854.

Henry Christopher Wyse led a company of 106 men of the 40th Regiment, sent from Geelong to deal with unrest among the gold diggers at Ballarat. When the rebel miners made a stand at Eureka Stockade on 3 December 1854, Wyse remained at his post despite receiving a flesh wound to his thigh. He was then mortally wounded by a German digger and fell on the inside of the Stockade's entrenchment. Shot through the head of the tibia and fibula, where they joined his knee, a decision was made to amputate his leg later that day. Wyse appeared initally to make a good recovery but he developed an infection and died on 21 December 1854, at the age of 26. He was given a military funeral in Ballarat.