Darge Photographic Company collection of negatives

Studio portrait of 2661 Private (Pte) Vernon James Gray and 2543 Pte Leslie James Bottomley, both 22nd Battalion (positions unknown). Pte Gray, a labourer from Warrnambool, Victoria prior to enlistment and Pte Bottomley, a farmer from Maringal via Warrnambool, Victoria prior to enlistment, both embarked with the 6th Reinforcements from Melbourne on HMAT Ulysses on 27 October 1915. Pte Gray later transferred to the 7th Battalion and was gassed. He returned to Australia on 25 January 1919. Pte Bottomley later transferred to the 2nd Pioneer Battalion and accidently received burns to his face and hands. Later developing heart problems, he returned to Australia on 12 May 1918. 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.