Next of kin plaque : Private P MacGregor, 20 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 'PETER MACGREGOR'. A checker's mark, '74', is impressed between the lion's rear left paw and tail. The mark of the Woolwich Arsenal, 'W' within a circle, is stamped in the back of the plaque. The original dull brown finish has been polished away to a bright brass finish, with such vigour that some of the finer details are now blurred.

Born at Woolloomooloo in Sydney in 1896, Peter MacGregor was working as a labourer when he enlisted in the AIF at Casula on 15 November 1915. After initial training he was assigned as a private to the 11th Reinforcements for 20 Battalion, with the service number 4487. He sailed from Sydney for service on the Western Front on 9 April 1916, aboard the troopship HMAT Nestor.

After further training in England, MacGregor joined his battalion at Dormy in Belgium on 2 October 1916. On 19 October he was evacuated from Switch Trench near Mametz suffering from bronchitis. At the beginning of November he was transferred to England, where he was treated for bronchitis and neuralgia. MacGregor rejoined the battalion in France on 20 February 1917. A month later he was evacuated from Bapaume, suffering from trench fever.

MacGregor rejoined the battalion at the end of April and was assigned to A Company as a stretcher bearer. In 1917 he took part in the battles of Second Bullecourt in France, and Menin Road and Poelcappelle in Belgium. At the end of the year he was allowed two weeks leave, which he took in England and Scotland.

In April 1918 MacGregor took part in the battle of Hangard Wood. On the night of 10 July 1918, near Vaire Wood, MacGregor and his team of three stretcher bearers were sent out to bring in a man who had been wounded at a forward post. MacGregor was shot by a German sniper just as he reached the trench and died instantly. Initially buried at Hamelet Australian Cemetery, near Corbie his body was re-interred after the war in the Crucifix Corner Cemetery at Villers-Bretonneux.

Peter MacGregor left a wife and two young sons. His widow, Kate, remarried at the end of 1919. This commemorative plaque was sent to her in February 1922.