Darge Photographic Company collection of negatives

Studio portrait of Victor Turvey, believed to be 2730 Private (Pte) Victor Turvey, 58th Battalion from Wood Wood, Victoria. A 19 year old labourer prior to enlisting on 5 July 1916, he embarked for overseas with the 6th Reinforcements from Melbourne on 2 October 1916 aboard HMAT Nestor (A71). Following further training in England, he proceeded to France where he joined the 58th Battalion on 7 February 1917. In March he was taken ill and evacuated to England for medical treatment. After returning to France, he rejoined his battalion on 21 August and was wounded in action on 25 September 1917. Pte Turvey was evacuated to England for medical treatment and then returned to Australia arriving on 12 February 1918. Five weeks later he was discharged from the AIF as medically unfit for further service. 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.