Darge Photographic Company collection of negatives

Studio portrait of J W O'Halloran, believed to be 4930 Acting Corporal John William O¿Halloran, 12th Battalion from Hobart, Tasmania. A 21 year old orchardist who served in the 93rd Infantry Militia prior to enlisting in the AIF on 29 September 1915, he embarked for overseas with the 15th Reinforcements from Melbourne on 18 February 1916 aboard HMAT Ballarat (A70). After arriving in Egypt he was taken ill and evacuated back to Australia for medical treatment in July 1916. He re-embarked for overseas with the 22nd Reinforcements of the 12th Battalion from Melbourne on 30 September 1916 aboard HMAT Palermo (A56). Upon arrival in England, he reverted to the rank of Private and then proceeded to France where he joined the 12th Battalion on 2 January 1917. Private O'Halloran was killed in action near Le Sars, France on 25 February 1917 and is commemorated on the Australian National Memorial at Villers- Bretonneux, France with others who have no known grave. [See also image DA13945.] This is one of a series of photographs taken by the Darge Photographic Company which had the 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.