Darge Photographic Company collection of negatives

Studio portrait of 6939 Private (Pte) Robert Mactier. A farmer from Tatura, Victoria prior to enlistment, Pte Mactier embarked with the 19th Reinforcements, 23rd Battalion from Melbourne on HMAT Ascanius on 11 May 1917. On 1 September 1918 during the Battle of Mont St Quentin, Pte Mactier was killed in action and was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for his outstanding courage and daring during the battle. He was buried in the Hem Farm Military Cemetery, Peronne, 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 P02939.041 H06787A A05807 DA17579 DA7579.