Darge Photographic Company collection of negatives

Studio portrait of 5747 Private (Pte) Francis Daniel Ward, 14th Battalion. A labourer from Bacchus Marsh, Vic prior to enlistment, Pte Ward embarked with the 18th Reinforcements from Melbourne on HMAT Port Lincoln on 4 May 1916. Whilst serving in France, he was wounded in action and evacuated to England. Following his recovery, he rejoined his unit and was wounded in action for the second time. On 15 July 1918, aged 21, he succumbed to his wounds and was buried in the Crouy British Cemetery, Crouy-Sur-Somme, France. This is one of a series of photographs taken by the Darge Photographic Company which had the concession to take photographs at the Broadmeadows and Seymour army camps during the First World War. In the 1930s, the Australian War Memorial purchased the original glass negatives from Algernon Darge, along with the photographers' notebooks. The notebooks contain brief details, usually a surname or unit name, for each negative.