Darge Photographic Company collection of negatives

Studio portrait of J A Rowarth, believed to be 2753 Private (Pte) John Allan Rowarth, 24th Battalion from Inverleigh, Victoria. A 21 year old labourer prior to enlisting on 30 July 1915, he embarked for overseas with the 6th Reinforcements from Melbourne on 27 October 1915 aboard HMAT Ulysses (A38). After arriving in Egypt, he transferred to the 7th Battalion and went with them to France in March. Pte Rowarth was wounded in action on 23 July 1916 and evacuated to England for medical treatment. He remained there until 25 November when he returned to the 7th Battalion in France. Pte Rowarth was then killed in action at Bernafay on 22 December 1916 and is commemorated on the Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux, France with others who have no known grave. 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.