Next of Kin Plaque : Captain R A Little, 203 Squadron, Royal Air Force

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. A raised rectangle above the lion's head bears the name 'ROBERT ALEXANDER LITTLE'.

Associated with the service of Captain Robert Alexander Little. Little was born in Hawthorn, Victoria on 19 July 1895 and was a commercial traveller in 1914 when he unsuccessfully attempted to gain one of the four places on offer at 1 Flying School, Point Cook, Victoria. He sailed for England in July 1915 and qualified as a pilot at his own expense on 27 October. On 14 January 1916 Little entered the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) as a sub-lieutenant and was posted to Dover, Kent.

In June he transferred to No. 1 Wing, Dunkirk where he saw action flying against the German submarine base at Zeebrugge. On 26 October Little was posted to the Western Front flying Sopwith Pups with 8 Squadron 'Naval 8'. He shot down his first enemy aircraft on 1 November and by March 1917 had scored nine aerial victories. When he went on leave to England that August, his tally had reached 37. In recognition, Little was awarded, the Distinguished Service Order and bar, the Distinguished Service Cross and bar the French Croix de Guerre, and was mentioned in despatches.

Promoted to flight commander, Little returned to France in March 1918, flying Sopwith Camels with 3 Squadron. On 1 April when the RNAS and the Royal Flying Corps were amalgamated to form the Royal Air Force, Little became a captain with 203 Squadron, RAF.

On the night of 27 May 1918 Little took off from Ezil le Hamel to intercept a group of German Gotha bombers. He was fatally wounded in the groin and crashed near Norviz, where he was found the following morning. He was buried in the village cemetery but was later reinterred at Wavans British War Cemetery.

Little is officially credited with a tally of 47 aerial victories, making him the most successful Australian ace of the war, the eighth of all British Commonwealth aces and the fourteenth of all aces from both sides of the conflict.