Darge Photographic Company collection of negatives

Studio portrait of 3484 Private (Pte) Stanley William Smith. A farmer from Avoca, Victoria prior to enlistment, Pte Smith embarked with the 9th Reinforcements, 60th Battalion from Sydney aboard HMAT Port Melbourne on 16 July 1917. Later suffering from trench fever, he was evacuated from the front line. Following his recovery he rejoined his battalion and was wounded in action. On 9 August 1918, aged 26, he succumbed to his wounds and was buried in the Vignacourt British Cemetery, France. 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. See also DA18249.