Darge Photographic Company collection of negatives

Studio portrait of A Decker, probably 4092 Private Albert Decker, 22nd Battalion from Warragul, Victoria. A 19 year old labourer prior to enlisting on 23 December 1915, he embarked for overseas with the 10th Reinforcements from Melbourne on 7 March 1916 aboard HMAT Wiltshire (A18). Following further training in Egypt, he proceeded to France where he joined the 22nd Battalion on 31 July 1916. After being wounded in action near Pozieres on 6 August, he was evacuated to England for medical treatment and then returned to his battalion on 24 November 1916. He was promoted to Lance Corporal (L Cpl) on 15 May 1917. L Cpl Decker was killed in action on 9 October 1917 at Broodseinde Ridge, Belgium and is buried in the White House St Jean Cemetery, north east of Ypres, Belgium. 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.