Darge Photographic Company collection of negatives

Studio portrait of 2217 Private (Pte) James McKenna, 21st Battalion. A carrier from Tatura, Victoria prior to enlistment, Pte McKenna embarked with the 4th Reinforcements from Melbourne on HMAT Hororata on 27 September 1915. Later suffering from trench foot, he was evacuated to England. After rejoining his unit, he was wounded in action. Subsequently transferring to the Army Pay Corps, he returned to Australia on 1 January 1919. 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.