Darge Photographic Company collection of negatives

Studio portrait of Pyle who could possibly be either 3610 Private (Pte) Rupert Thomas Pyle, 23rd Battalion or 3583 Pte William Benjamin John Pyle, 24th Battalion. Pte Rupert Pyle was a 19 year old clerk from Rushworth, Victoria when he enlisted on 21 July 1915. He embarked for overseas service with the 8th Reinforcements from Melbourne aboard HMAT Afric (A19) on 5 January 1916. After further training in Egypt, he proceeded to France in March 1916 and was transferred to the Trench Mortar Battery and promoted to Bombardier and then to Corporal on 1 September 1916. After being gassed in Belgium on 19 November 1917, he was evacuated to England and remained there until returning to France in June 1918 where he joined the 2nd Divisional Artillery. He was made an Acting Sergeant on 13 May 1919 and arrived back in Australia on 20 August 1919.
Pte William Pyle was an 18 year old farm labourer from Kew, Victoria when he enlisted on 28 August 1915. He embarked for overseas service with the 8th Reinforcements from Melbourne aboard HMAT Afric (A19) on 5 January 1916. After further training in Egypt, he proceeded to France in March 1916 and served on the Western Front until he was evacuated to England in December 1916 due to illness. He remained in England until 24 September 1918 when he returned to France. Pte Pyle arrived back in Australia on 2 July 1919. This is one of a series of photographs taken by the Darge Photographic Company which had a permit 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.