Darge Photographic Company collection of negatives

Studio portrait of 3818 Private (Pte) James Johansen. A labourer from Bacchus Marsh, Victoria prior to enlistment, Pte Johansen embarked with the 12th Reinforcements, 6th Battalion from Melbourne on HMAT Ceramic on 23 November 1915. Following his arrival in the Middle East he was hospitalised suffering from kidney problems. After recovering he re-joined his battalion and was wounded in the thigh and was evacuated to hospital. After recovering he was next admitted to the 20th Convalescent Depot suffering from shell concussion. Once more re-joining his battalion he was evacuated to England suffering from trench feet. After again re-joining his battalion he was then admitted to the 2nd Field Ambulance suffering from frostbite. He subsequently developed meningitis and on 24 February 1918, aged 24, he succumbed to his illness and was buried in the Etaples Military Cemetery, France. This is one of a series of photographs taken by the Darge Photographic Company which had a permit 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.