Darge Photographic Company collection of negatives

Portrait of Reg Purtell, copied for the Cobram Honour Roll. The name Reg Purtell is recorded on the Roll which was published regularly in the Cobram Courier newspaper during the war. The soldier was also listed in the Darge photographer's notebook as Reg, however Reginald Purtell did not serve in the First World War. The soldier is probably Reg's brother 1920 Private (Pte) Leopold Patrick (Leo) Purtell, a farmer from Lalalty prior to enlistment. Pte Leo Purtell embarked from Melbourne with the 2nd Reinforcements, 3rd Pioneer Battalion, aboard HMAT Themistocles (A32) on 28 July 1916. During his service he transferred to the 4th Pioneer Battalion. Pte Purtell returned to Australia on 23 July 1919. Leopold Purtell joined the Militia on 20 August 1939, then enlisted in the army (service numbers V43687 and V16719). He served in Australia and died of illness on 16 August 1945 in NSW. The confusion of the two brother continued, the Cobram Courier announcing the death of Reginald Purtell, then having to retract it and report that it was Leo who died. During the First World War the Cobram and District Soldiers Fund initiated a project to create a Cobram Honour Roll. It was to include portraits of servicemen who had links to the Cobram area. The Fund arranged for portraits to be copied by the Darge Photographic Company at its Collins Street Studio, Melbourne. Around 100 copy prints were supplied by the Darge company but it is not known if the roll was ever constructed. In the 1930s, the Australian War Memorial purchased 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. The names are transcribed as they appear in the notebooks.