Darge Photographic Company collection of negatives

Studio portrait of 3687 Private (Pte) Frederick George Beard. A farmer from Outtrim, Victoria prior to enlistment, Pte Beard embarked with the 12 Reinforcements, 8th Battalion from Adelaide on HMAT Ceramic on 23 November 1915. He later served with the 59th Battalion, the 15th Field Artillery Brigade (FAB) and then the 13th FAB. Subsequently promoted to Corporal he was gassed and evacuated to England. Following his recovery he re-joined his unit and was awarded the Military Medal for his actions in putting out a fire in an ammunition pit. Later promoted to Sergeant he returned to Australia on 20 June 1919. 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..