Darge Photographic Company collection of negatives

Studio portrait of H Ryall, identified as 19 year old University of Melbourne law student Lewis Henry Ryall, from Canterbury, Victoria. Lewis Henry is wearing civilian clothes and a straw boater hat. 728 Private (Pte) Lewis Henry Ryall was promoted to Sergeant prior to embarking from Melbourne with C Company, 22nd Battalion aboard HMAT Ulysses (A38) on 10 May 1915. Sergeant (Sgt) Ryall served at Gallipoli and on the Western Front, suffering from many illnesses including enteritis, pneumonia and bronchitis. During his service Ryall transferred to the 58th Battalion then the 60th Battalion. He was awarded the Military Medal (MM) “for conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty” at Bullecourt on 12 May 1917. Sgt Ryall received a gunshot wound to the cheek in October 1917. Following his return to duty he was appointed Company Sergeant Major (CSM). On 27 April 1918, at Villers-Bretonneux, Ryall received a penetrating gunshot wound to the chest and left arm. He returned to Australia on 13 December 1918 and underwent continued treatment for his severe injuries. In 1921 he married Dorothy Jane Newton who had served as a nurse with the Australian Army Nursing Service during the war. They moved to Queensland for Lewis’ health however he died of his war injuries in 1927, aged 31. 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. The names are transcribed as they appear in the notebooks. (See also DA08741, P11896, REL51189.001, REL51189.002 and REL51189.003)