Female Relative's badge : Mrs E Symons

Female Relative's badge with a blue enamelled oval around the voided letters 'AIF'. The oval contains the words 'ISSUED BY DEPT OF DEFENCE TO WOMEN OF AUSTRALIA'. An enameled scroll beneath this contains the words 'FOR DUTY DONE'. The badge is surmounted by a King's Crown. Stamped on the reverse is the serial number '161825' and the maker's details 'STOKE & SONS MELB STG SIL'. The badge is contained in a small cardboard box lined with cotton wool and blue felt.

This Female Relative's badge was issued to Mrs Eliza Symons, the mother of Lance Corporal Frank Robert Symons. Frank Symons was born at Alexandria, Sydney, in 1895. He trained as a wood turner after completing his education, and was also a member of the militia. As a 19 year old, he enlisted in the AIF in July 1915, becoming Private 2287 in 17 Infantry Battalion. Although he sailed with the 4th reinforcements in September 1915, Symons did not join his unit until January 1916, in Egypt after the evacuation of Gallipoli. He travelled with the battalion to France later the same year, and saw action on the Somme. On 15 April 1917, the Germans launched a counter-attack at Lagnicourt against the Australian forces advancing towards the Hindenburg Line. 17 Battalion, holding the line in front of the town of Noreuil, was one of the units heavily involved in this action, and suffered 181 casualties during the day. Frank Symons, now a lance corporal, was among those killed. His body was not recovered, and he is commemorated on the Australian National Memorial at Villers Bretonneux, France. The Female Relative's badge was issued by the Commonwealth Government to the wife and/or mother, or to the nearest female relative, of soldiers, nurses and masseurs who had left Australia for active service abroad.