Next of kin plaque: Private Frank Henry Goldsmith, 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 of the deceased soldier 'FRANK HENRY GOLDSMITH'. A checker's mark, '15', is impressed behind the lion's rear left paw.

Born in Sydney, New South Wales Frank Henry Goldsmith was employed as a milk and cream tester near Gosford when he enlisted in the AIF on 21 July 1915. After initial training he was posted a private, service number 3334, to the 11th Reinforcements for 1st Battalion. He embarked for overseas service from Sydney aboard HMAT Themistocles on 5 October.

In Egypt Goldsmith joined C Company of his battalion on 14 February 1916 and five weeks later moved with it to France for service on the Western Front. Goldsmith trained as a machine gunner and served in the Somme Valley in 1916 and early 1917 before the battalion moved to Belgium later in the year.

Goldsmith was killed at Broodseinde during the Third Battle of Ypres, according to his service record on 3 October 1917. The Battalion's War diary suggests that he was killed on 4 October. Goldsmith had already sustained a broken thumb but refused to go back when he was killed, together with Corporal Harold Holmes, as they were digging in at the first objective at about 9 a.m. The men were buried the following night near the Ypres-Menin Road. Their bodies were not recovered for burial in a war cemetery and their names are commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial at Ypres.

This memorial plaque was sent to Goldsmith’s father Arthur Thomas Goldsmith, in October 1922.