Darge Photographic Company collection of negatives

Studio portrait of Lieut Cole, believed to be Second Lieutenant (2nd Lt) Clive Robert Trevor Cole, 14th Battalion from Malvern, Victoria. A 36 year old marine engineer prior to enlisting on 22 March 1915, he was appointed a Second Lieutenant on 16 July and embarked for overseas with the 12th Reinforcements from Melbourne on 23 November 1915 aboard HMAT Ceramic (A40). After arriving in Egypt, he was promoted to Lieutenant, was taken ill and was transferred to England for medical treatment in April 1916. On 2 February 1917, he was promoted to Captain (Capt) and rejoined the 14th Battalion in France. Capt Cole was wounded in action on 8 August 1918 but remained at duty. He was later awarded a Military Cross (MC) for conspicuous gallantry during operations near Morcourt, France on that same day. On 1 October 1918, he was detached to the 3rd Training Brigade in England and arrived back in Australia on 5 July 1919. [See also image DASEY2052.] 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.