British War Medal 1914-20: Private Tommy Purcell, 15th Battalion, AIF

British War Medal 1914-20. Late issue. Pantograph engraved around edge with recipient's details.

Born in Atherton, Queensland at an unknown date, Tommy Purcell, a man of indigenous descent, enlisted in the AIF at Cairns on 1 September 1917. At the time of his enlistment he stated that he was a labourer who was 21 years old, and nominated his sister, Miss Emily Purcell, then resident at Malanda, as his next of kin.

Purcell undertook initial training in Brisbane before being posted a private, service number 7813, to the 26th Reinforcements for 9th Battalion. He had a will drawn up in favour of his nephew, Harry Ambram, before he boarded a troop train to Sydney on 29 October. His unit left Sydney on 31 October aboard HMAT A14 Euripides. While at sea Purcell contracted measles. Immediately on arrival in England on 26 December he was diagnosed with mumps and taken to the 4th Southern General Hospital for treatment. He subsequently underwent further training in England before moving to France for service on the Western Front in April 1918.

In France Purcell was transferred to 15th Battalion, which by this stage in the war was only able to muster about half of its nominal strength of about a thousand men. His service number was amended to 7813A. Purcell is likely to have fought in the battalion's two major battles later in 1918, at Hamel and Amiens. He was severely wounded in the abdomen while fighting near Jeancourt on 18 September and was evacuated to 55th (British) Casualty Clearing Station at Doingt, where he died the following day. He is buried in the Doingt Communal Cemetery near Peronne.

Attempts to locate Purcell's sister, Emily, or the beneficiary of his will, Harry Ambram, both by letter and press advertisement, were not successful and his effects which had been returned to Australia after his death, his medals and next of kin plaque remained unclaimed. Purcell's medals were finally claimed by Emily's eldest granddaughter in 2015 and donated to the War Memorial. As the machines used to impress (stamp) the naming on the original issued of First World War medals no longer exist, these medals are pantograph engraved in the style current in 2015.

• Victory Medal: Private Tommy Purcell, 15th Battalion, AIF