Mothers and Widows Badge : Mrs E Bayliss

Round, white metal Mothers and Widows badge. The obverse shows a raised image of a grieving woman and part of a laurel wreath with the words 'FOR AUSTRALIA' in raised letters. The reverse has a hinged securing pin and raised lettering which reads 'ISSUED BY THE C'WLTH GOVT' and 'AMOR SYDNEY'. The number 'A16324' is impressed between the two inscriptions. Suspended by two securing rings from the bottom of the badge is a flat rectangular bar with a single brass seven pointed star in the centre.

The Mothers and Widows Badge was issued to the mother and/or widow of a member of the RAN, AIF (including AANS), or RAAF killed in action, or who died of wounds or from other causes whilst on service or as a result of such service. This badge is associated with the service of VX3382 Sergeant Leighton Llewellwyn Bayliss, born in Deniliquin, New South Wales on 22 July 1913. He was the son of Phillip and Evelyn Bayliss, and the husband of Joyce Culvenor Bayliss, of Fairfield, Victoria. Bayliss enlisted in South Melbourne on 8 November 1939 and served in the 2/7 Battalion, Australian Infantry. Aged 29, he died while defending the island of Crete against the German land and airborne invasion on 20 September 1941.