Darge Photographic Company collection of negatives

Studio portrait of 3 Sergeant (Sgt) John Hudson Langley DCM and Bar, Armoured Car Section. An electrician from White Hills, Bendigo, Victoria, prior to enlistment, Sgt Langley embarked from Melbourne aboard HMAT Katuna (A13) on 20 June 1916. Sgt Langley died of illness (malaria) at Aleppo, Syria on 2 January 1919, aged 25. He was awarded a Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) for conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. "When in charge of a Lewis Gun section he twice stampeded enemy machine gun sections, enfiladed a trench, causing many casualties, and dispersed several enemy digging parties. He captured a machine gun, killing some of the gunners and putting the rest to flight. He showed marked skill throughout." He was later awarded a Bar to his DCM. "On 23 October, 1918, at Khan Tuman, he pursued in an armoured car, over very rough ground, an enemy patrol, which approached the armoured car position. His quickness and dash enabled him to kill one of the enemy and capture four. He set a brilliant example of determination and initiative." This is one of a series of photographs taken by the Darge Photographic Company which had a 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. The names are transcribed as they appear in the notebooks.