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Listen to the recorded memories of those who grew up on farms as part of the Soldier Settlement Scheme. From Keepsakes: Australians and the Great War, National Library of Australia, 2014.
This video features Tony Pickrell and John Drew, the sons of soldier settlers from Kentucky near Armidale, and Leeton and Griffith in regional N.S.W.
After experiencing the horrors of war, soldiers returned to Australian to find a changed world. The Soldier Settlement Scheme seemed to offer a new start and many veterans took up farming in regional Australia with the help of substantial Government loans. It was a hard life. Inexperience, debt and the harsh Australian environment were daily obstacles. In 2008, the National Library interviewed descendants of the Soldier Settlers who grew up in the shadow of the Scheme. These are their memories.