"Norman Halcombe headed to America to train at Stanford University as a civil engineer. By the time World War I broke out, he had established a lucrative practice in San Francisco, and paid his way to England to sign up with the Royal Engineers. While in London he met up with his cousin, fellow Taranaki expat Blanche Turton, and they were married in 1918. But their wedded bliss was cut cruelly short. The following day Norman shipped out for India, and Blanche was soon informed her husband had been hospitalised with influenza. He died a few days later. "For more information on the story of Norman Halcombe see the section Natural Obsessions: The Blanche Halcombe Collection in the book Flashback: Tales and Treasures of Taranaki pp.220-225. http://www.pukeariki.com/Heritage/Flashback.aspx 

More than 1 million of these plaques were issued to commemorate men and women who died on 'active service' between 4 August 1914 and 10 January 1920.