Item HT 29958 Certificate of Appreciation - 'He Answered His Country's Call: For Duty Nobly Done', Private Knight, World War I, circa 1917

Summary

Framed certificate of Private Thomas Knight of the 21st Battalion, AIF, with an inset photograph. The certificate has been mounted on a blue background surmounted by the words 'The Great War,' on either side of the certificate are recorded the dates of the conflict and below the certificate are the details of Private Knight and his service.

Thomas Knight was the son of Allen and Margaret Knight from Korong Vale, Victoria. He enlisted with the Australian Imperial Forces on January 25, 1915. Following his enlistment Knight travelled to Gallipoli and Alexandria before heading to the France on the Western Front. The 21st Battalion took part in the Battle of Pozieres (July 29- August 7, 1916) and it was during this time that Private Knight is recorded as missing in action.

According to information provided by four of his comrades and recorded in the records of the Red Cross, Knight was part of a trench digging squad at Pozieres that was sent out at night and somehow found himself in a German trench. He was then either taken prisoner or killed. According to a letter from his mother, Margaret, preserved in his record and held by the Australian War Memorial, only Knight's rifle was recovered. Twelve months following these events an official inquiry in July 1917 declared Knight killed in action at Pozieres on August 1, 1916. He was later commemorated with 10,764 other Australians at the Villers-Bretonneu Memorial in France.

Wattle was the unofficial floral emblem of Australia from 1901 until August 1988 when it was officially declared the National Floral Emblem by the Rt Hon Sir Ninian M Stephen AK GCMG GCVO KBE, the Governor-General at the time.

Physical Description

Framed and glazed illustrated card printed in colour, inset with black and white photographic image of soldier in uniform. The certificate has been mounted on a navy blue background inscribed with handwritten text. The image is an inset on a certificate and is surmounted by seven national flags in the order of Belgium, America, Italy, Britain, Australia, France, Russia and the flag of the Imperial Japanese Army. Below the flags is a banner inscribed with the words 'He Answered His Country's Call.' Five images comprise the rest of the decoration around the photograph of Private Knight. The two images on the left are of a ship with troops landing on an unidentified shoreline above a drawing of a sprig of wattle. Below the photograph is a map of Australia with the words 'For God / And Country' written across it on an unfurled scroll. On the right side of the photograph is a drawing of troops preparing to leave their trench and below that image is a branch of Eucalyptus leaves with pink flowers.