Next of Kin plaque: Driver Colin Douglas Grant Love, 2nd Division Mechanical Transport company, AIF

Place Europe: France, Picardie, Somme, Daours
Accession Number REL26508
Collection type Heraldry
Object type Heraldry
Physical description Bronze
Place made United Kingdom
Date made c 1922
Conflict First World War, 1914-1918
Description

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 'COLIN DOUGLAS GRANT LOVE'.

History / Summary

Born in Melbourne, Victoria, Colin Douglas Grant Love was a 19 year old clerk when he enlisted in the AIF on 8 March 1915, with the permission of his parents. He had previously served part-time in the senior cadets, the naval cadets and, most recently, with the Army Medical Corps. Aafter basic training Love was posted as a private, service number 3277, to B Section, 6th Field Ambulance. He sailed for overseas service aboard HMAT A31 Ajana on 4 June.

Love landed with his unit at Gallipoli at the end of August 1915, returning to Egypt at the end of the year. In March 1916 he moved to France for service on the Western Front. Love later trained as a motor transport driver and in January 1917 was formally posted as a driver to the 1st Division Supply Column, then to "K" Supply Column in May. Despite this he remained attached to the 6th Field Ambulance as a motor ambulance driver. He was awarded the Military Medal 'for great courage and devotion to duty' near Morlancourt, France, on 10 June 1918.

Late in the morning on 18 August, while the 6th Field Ambulance was camped near Daours, France, an enemy shell hit its motor ambulance lines, killing Love and another driver. They were buried in the Daours Communal Cemetery extension.

This commemorative plaque was sent to Love's father, James Edward Love, in February 1923. Another of his sons, Private James Edward Clayton Love, served with 2nd Division Signal Company and survived the war.