Next of kin plaque : Private William Willis, 1st 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 'WILLIAM WILLIS'.

Born in Alexandria, Sydney, New South Wales, William Willis was employed as a carter, and also worked in his brother's barber shop when he enlisted in the AIF on 29 May 1916 at the age of 18, with his parents' consent. After training in Cootamundra he was posted a private, service number 6581, to the 21st Reinforcements for the 1st Battalion. He left Sydney for overseas service aboard HMAT Ceramic on 7 October.

Willis arrived in England on 21 November. After further training and treatment for illness he joined the 1st Division's Pay Corps in France on 26 February 1917. On 20 May he was posted to D Company of the 1st Battalion. At Half Way House, near Hellfire Corner near Ypres, Belgium, on 21 September Willis received a direct hit to the head from a small aerial bomb dropped by a German aircraft, which killed him instantly. He is buried in the Perth Cemetery (China Wall) at Ypres.

Willis's nominated next of kin, his father George, died in 1920. This commemorative plaque was forward to his mother, Louisa Willis, in September 1922.