Next of Kin Plaque : Private A E Richards, 52 Battalion, AIF

Next of kin plaque in cardboard box of issue showing Britannia and a lion together with the words 'HE DIED FOR FREEDOM AND HONOUR'. The name of the dead soldier 'ALFRED EDGAR RICHARDS' is in relief within a raised rectangle.

8100 Private Alfred Edgar Richards, a clothier from Sydney, NSW, enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 17 July 1915, aged 34. He embarked for Egypt with 2 Australian General Hospital aboard HMAT Lincoln on 13 October that year. In 1916, serving with 13 Field Ambulance, he went on to serve on the Western Front and was attached for duty as a stretcher bearer to 52 Battalion. In 1916, Richards was recommended for a Military Medal for his dedication to bringing in the wounded during the fighting at Mouquet Farm on 3-4 September. On 27 March 1917 Richards was killed by shell fire near Vaulx when the battalion was moving into line near Bullecourt. He is buried at Vaulx Hill Cemetery in France.