Darge Photographic Company collection of negatives Accession Number: DA13650

Description

Studio portrait of 2873 Acting Sergeant (A/Sgt) Oscar Rene Birdsey. A clerk from Auburn, Victoria prior to enlistment, A/Sgt Birdsey embarked with the 6th Reinforcements, 29th Battalion from Melbourne on HMAT Euripides on 4 April 1916. He was later appointed as Acting Company Sergeant-Major and after attending the Lewis Gun Instruction School he was appointed as Temporary Sergeant. Subsequently reverting to the substantive rank of Corporal he re-joined his battalion in France and was wounded in the right arm and evacuated to England where he was attached to the Permanent Cadre No2 Command Depot. Later promoted to Sergeant he again re-joined his battalion in France and was appointed as Temporary Warrant Officer Class 2 and was recommended for the Meritorious Service Medal and the Distinguished Conduct Medal although neither was awarded and he was subsequently awarded the Military Medal for bravery in the field. He then transferred to the 32nd Battalion and proceeded to England where he attended the No5 Officer Cadet Battalion. Following the Armistice he graduated and was appointed as Second Lieutenant. He then returned to France and served with the Australian Infantry Brigade Depot and then the 30th Battalion. Later returning to England he was granted leave to attend Leeds University and, while there, he was promoted to Lieutenant. He returned to Australia on 27 December 1919. During the Second World War he served as a Major in the Volunteer Defence Corps. . This is one of a series of photographs taken by the Darge Photographic Company which had a permit 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.