Darge Photographic Company collection of negatives

Studio portrait of 1304 Staff Sergeant (SSgt) Harold James Long. Originally from Liverpool, England, SSgt Long was an insurance clerk from Melbourne, Victoria prior to enlistment and embarked with the rank of Sergeant with the 2nd Reinforcements, 5th Battalion from Melbourne on HMAT Clan McGillivray on 2 February 1915. He was severely wounded during the Gallipoli landing on 25 April 1915. There are conflicting reports regarding his death. Some reports claim that he died almost immediately while others claim that, as he had lost his legs and could not retreat with his comrades, rather than be captured he shot himself. Having no known grave he is commemorated on the Lone Pine Memorial, Gallipoli, Turkey. 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. The notebooks contain brief details, usually a surname or unit name, for each negative. See also DA16738.