Darge Photographic Company collection of negatives

Studio portrait of 6868A Private (Pte) Benjamin David Powell who enlisted and served as John Henry Vesey Powell. An engine driver from Fitzroy, Victoria prior to enlistment, Pte Powell embarked with the 20th Reinforcements, 24th Battalion from Melbourne on HMAT Nestor on 21 November 1917. Following his arrival in England it was discovered that he was underage and he revealed his true name. He returned to Australia on 12 May 1918 and was discharged. This is one of a series of photographs taken by the Darge Photographic Company which had a 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.