Darge Photographic Company collection of negatives

Portrait of Captain (Capt) R Williams, Australian Flying Corps. Capt Richard Williams enlisted on 6 January 1916 and embarked with C Flight, No. 1 Squadron from Melbourne aboard HMAT Orsova (A67) on 16 March 1916. He served as Commanding Officer of No. 1 Squadron from 1917 to 1918 and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order. Later in 1918 he served with 40 Wing, RAF. Williams’ extensive career included the positions of Chief of the Air Staff, RAAF, 1921-1938; Air Officer Administration Coastal Command, RAF, 1939; Air Member for Organisation and Equipment, RAAF, 1941-1942; RAAF Representative Joint Chiefs of Staff, Washington, 1942-1946; Director General Australian Civil Aviation, 1946-1955. 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. The names are transcribed as they appear in the notebooks.