Josiah Barnes collection of First World War negatives and prints

Informal group portrait of members of the 15th Reinforcements, 21st Battalion, on a wharf at Port Melbourne before embarking on the troopship HMAT Shropshire A9. Identified are, 5586 Private (Pte) Herbert Charles Dunn, of North Melbourne, Vic, (front row, far right, holding bugle), and 5677 Pte Percy Pepper of Lakes Entrance, Vic, (front row, second from right). Pte Pepper, an Aboriginal serviceman, is holding his kit bag in front of him, and a small cardboard sign which reads 'PUNCH' (possibly a nickname), at his right shoulder. Although he was missing the last two fingers on the left hand (noticeable in the photograph), Pte Pepper passed the army rifle test and was accepted into the AIF, enlisting in Warrnambool, Vic, on 8 May 1916, at the age of 38. After serving with the 21st Battalion on the Western Front and being wounded in October 1917, Pte Pepper was attached to the Australian Employment Company. In May 1918 he applied to return to Australia where his wife, who was caring for their seven children, had become seriously ill. His application was approved and he was also granted a discharge. Prior to the First World War, Pte Pepper, an athlete himself, coached his brother in law, Harry Thorpe, in hurdles at a track at Lake Tyers, Vic. 5459 Corporal Harry Thorpe MM, also an Aboriginal serviceman, died of wounds on 9 August 1918, in France. In the foreground a kitbag, a pack, coats and a pile of papers are lying on a stack of timber planks.