Darge Photographic Company collection of negatives

Studio portrait of T Murnane, Probably 2044 Private (Pte) Thomas Murnane, 60th Battalion. A labourer from Timboon, Victoria prior to enlistment, Pte Murnane embarked with the3rd Reinforcements from Melbourne on HMAT port Lincoln on 4 May 1916. Later wounded in action, he was evacuated to England. Following his recovery he joined the 46th Battalion and was gassed. Later promoted to Lance Corporal he was awarded the Military Medal for “valuable and courageous work during exploitation of the final objective”. Following the Armistice he became dangerously ill with bronchitis and returned to Australia on 1 April 1919. He later served with the 3rd Garrison Battalion during the Second World War. 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 1930's, 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.