Next of kin plaque : Lieutenant Colonel Hubert Jennings Imrie Harris, 5th Light Horse Regiment, AIF

Places	Asia: Turkey, Canakkale Province, Gallipoli Peninsula, Shell Green Cemetery Middle East: Ottoman Empire, Turkey, Dardanelles, Gallipoli, Bolton's Ridge, Poppy Valley, Chatham's Post
Accession Number	REL42706
Collection type	Heraldry
Object type	Heraldry
Physical description	Bronze
Maker	Royal Arsenal Woolwich
Place made	United Kingdom: England, Greater London, London, Greenwich, Woolwich
Date made	c 1922
Conflict	First World War, 1914-1918

Description

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 'HUBERT JENNINGS IMRIE HARRIS'. A checker's mark, '78', is impressed between the lion's tail and left rear paw.

History / Summary

Born in Dalby, Queensland in 1871, Hubert Jennings Imrie Harris was employed as an accountant, and was General Secretary to the Queensland Ambulance Transport Brigade when he enlisted in the AIF on 28 October 1914. He had already served with the Second Queensland Contingent to the Boer War, which he briefly commanded towards the end of its tour of duty, as well as the Australian Mounted Infantry (2nd Queensland Mounted Infantry, 2nd South Australian Mounted Infantry and Australian Horse). He served in the Citizen Forces after that war, commanding the 13th Light Horse Regiment. In 1912 he commanded the Mounted Special Constables during the Brisbane General Strike.

Harris was appointed to command the 5th Light Horse Regiment, with the rank of lieutenant colonel, on the day of his enlistment. The regiment sailed from Sydney on 21 December aboard HMAT A34 Persic. After training in Egypt it landed at Gallipoli on 20 May 1915. On the evening of 31 July, during fighting near Leane's Trench, Harris entered a machine gun observation post. Although a Turkish shell exploded over the post, it was one of their bullets entering the post's loophole, that struck Harris in the neck. He died in less than 2 minutes, and was the only man in the regiment to be killed that day. Harris was buried the following day in the Shell Green Cemetery at Anzac.

This commemorative plaque was sent to his widow, Leila Margaret Harris, in December 1922.