Pre embarkation studio portrait of 1350 Private (Pte) George William Fletcher. A labourer from ...

Pre embarkation studio portrait of 1350 Private (Pte) George William Fletcher. A labourer from Camperdown, Victoria prior to enlistment, Pte Fletcher embarked with the 7th Reinforcements, 13th Light Horse Regiment from Melbourne on HMAT Ceramic on 23 November 1915. Later transferring to the 3nd Divisional Ammunition Column he was re-mustered as a Driver and admitted to hospital suffering from trench feet. Subsequently serving with the 5th Field Artillery Brigade he was evacuated to England after receiving a bomb wound to the left thigh. Due to the nature of his wound he returned to Australia on 16 Mar 1919 and was medically discharged. He later went on to serve in the Second World War as a Signalman with the 2nd Australian Army Signals Training School. While there he developed hematemesis and on 31 May 1943, aged 49, he succumbed to his illness and was buried in the Seymour General Cemetery, Victoria. 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. His son Valwyn Gordon Fletcher served in the Merchant Navy during the Second World War. See also DA12567. (see P03297.002).

• Portrait of Australian merchant seaman Valwyn Gordon Fletcher, who sailed on British, Norwegian, ...