Darge Photographic Company collection of negatives

Studio portrait of 7533 Private (Pte) James William McKacknie. A labourer from Melbourne, Victoria prior to enlistment, Pte McKacknie had previously served as 2219 Pte James McKacknie and had embarked with the 6th Reinforcements, 6th Battalion from Melbourne on HMAT Wandilla on 17 June 1915. Following his arrival in the Middle East he was classified as undesirable and returned to Australia under escort and discharged. Subsequently re-enlisting as William McKacknie he embarked with the 25th Reinforcements, 7th Battalion from Melbourne on HMAT Themistocles on 4 August 1917. Following his arrival in England he suffered a sprained ankle during bayonet training. Later rejoining his battalion in France, he was wounded in action and evacuated to hospital. On 13 June 1918, aged 26, he succumbed to his wounds and was buried in the Ebblinghem Military Cemetery, France. 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.