Next of Kin plaque and stand: Private John Mooney, 19th 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 'JOHN MOONEY'. The plaque has accompanying display stand, not part of the original issue, made in the form of an easel. Main body of the 'easel' is made of copper pipe, 0.5 cm diameter, bent into a 'U' shape. Copper nails placed two thirds of the way from the top of the stand hold the plaque. Stand has a moveable back foot to hold it upright made from a steel rod attached to a steel crosspiece on between the copper pipe.

Born at Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, John Mooney was working as a chaff cutting contractor in Cootamundra when he enlisted in the AIF on 28 March 1916, aged 26. After basic training in Cootamundra and Goulburn he was posted as a private, service number 2940, to the 7th Reinforcements for the 56th Battalion. He sailed for overseas service from Sydney, aboard HMAT A11 Ascanius, on October 1916.

After training in England Mooney briefly joined the 56th Battalion before being transferred to the 19th Battalion, service number 2940B, on 23 March 1917. During the second battle of Bullecourt, during fighting near Noreuil on 4 May, in which his battalion suffered 359 casualties, Mooney was wounded in his right arm, elbow, both legs and side. Taken to the 6th Field Ambulance at Vaulx he died there the same day. Mooney is buried in the Vaulx Australian Field Ambulance Cemetery.

This commemorative plaque was sent to his widowed mother, Elizabeth, in August 1922.