Darge Photographic Company collection of negatives

Studio portrait of Arter J H, believed to be Acting Lieutenant James Henry Arter, 22nd Battalion from East Malvern, Victoria. A 25 year old farmer prior to joining the AIF on 1 May 1915, he embarked for overseas with the 7th Reinforcements from Melbourne on 26 November 1915 aboard HMAT Commonwealth (A73). After arriving in Egypt, he transferred to the 60th Battalion and was promoted to Lieutenant on 15 June 1916. That same month, he proceeded to France where he was taken ill and evacuated to England in August 1916. Three months later, he returned to the 60th Battalion and then in December was taken ill again and did not re-join the battalion until March 1917. In April, he was seconded for duty with the 15th Training Battalion in England for five months. He was promoted to Captain on 1 December 1917. After being wounded in action on 25 April 1918, he was evacuated to England for medical treatment. Upon recovering, he transferred to the 59th Battalion in France and on 12 December 1918 he was detached for duty as Town Mayor of Semonsies, France for five weeks. Captain Arter arrived back in Australia on 15 December 1919. He re-joined the army in the Second World War and served as a Captain from 3 October 1939 until 26 August 1942. 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.