Darge Photographic Company collection of negatives Accession Number: DA13725

Description

Studio portrait of G J Close, possibly 4085 Private (Pte) George Close. A labourer from Melton, Victoria prior to enlistment, Pte Close had been previously rejected due to bad teeth. After successfully enlisting he embarked with the 10th Reinforcements, 21st Battalion from Melbourne on HMAT Wiltshire on 7 March 1916. He later transferred to the 5th Divisional Ammunition Column and was re-mustered as a Gunner. Later joining the 14th Field Artillery Brigade he was wounded in the chest Due to the severity of his wound he returned to Australia on 10 August 1918 and was medically discharged. 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.

Details

Conflicts

• First World War, 1914-1918