Darge Photographic Company collection of negatives

Studio portrait of 6914A Private (Pte) William George Wheeler. A woodcutter from Euroa, Victoria prior to enlistment, Pte Wheeler embarked with the 20th Reinforcements, 24th Battalion from Melbourne on HMAT Nestor on 21 November 1917. Later wounded in action he remained on duty and was subsequently gassed. Following his recovery he rejoined his battalion and on 5 October 1918, aged 25, he was killed in action and buried in the Calvaire British Cemetery, Picardie, France. 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.