Darge Photographic Company collection of negatives

Studio portrait of 6075 Private William George Needham, 38th Battalion from Fitzroy, Victoria. A 37 year old bookmaker prior to enlistment on 30 March 1916, he enlisted as Walter Godfrey Needham and embarked for overseas with the 19th Reinforcements of the 6th Battalion from Melbourne on 28 July 1916 aboard HMAT Themistocles. After joining the 38th Battalion on 30 September 1916, he was killed in action on 29 December 1916 and is buried in the Cite Bonjean Military Cemetery, Armentieres, France. After his death it was revealed that his real name was William George Needham. This is one of a series of photographs taken by the Darge Photographic Company which had the 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. The names are transcribed as they appear in the notebooks.