Darge Photographic Company collection of negatives Accession Number: DA13895

Description

Studio portrait of 4200 Private (Pte) William John David Towers. A labourer from Chiltern, Victoria prior to enlistment, Pte Towers embarked with the 10th Reinforcements, 23rd Battalion from Melbourne on HMAT Wiltshire on 7 March 1916. He later transferred to the 5th Cyclist Corps and was hospitalised suffering from an undisclosed illness. He later served with the 22nd Cyclist Corps where he was diagnosed as suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis. He returned to Australia on 5 January 1919 and was medically discharged. He subsequently passed away on 16 December 1922. 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