IN June 1922 - four years after the war ended - the first of almost 1500 teenage boys took a giant leap, moving from England to the opposite end of the world to work on South Australian farms.
A total of 1444 boys - between 1922 and 1924 - grabbed what they thought might be the opportunity of a lifetime with two hands and headed off to the unknown.
Initiated by then-Premier Sir Henry Barwell, the new scheme would have the young men work as farm apprentices across the state.
The aim was to bolster population numbers across Australia while addressing the loss of the 6000 SA men killed in World War I.
The first group "listened attentively to a cheery address" from Mr Barwell at Australia House, who told them their future would depend entirely upon themselves.
"You will find one of the best climates in the world, you will hardly ever get a day without seeing the sun," he said. "There is room to breathe in Australia - life in the country districts is the best you could live."
But for many, the reality was not quite so rosy with very few having farm experience.
Within 48 hours of arriving in Adelaide after their six-week ocean journey, the boys were sent to their new employers in areas like the Eyre Peninsula, Kangaroo Island and the Riverland.
Their accommodation was often basic and the work arduous with long days in the relentless heat and dust.
For some of the young apprentices, culture shock and home sickness meant their dreams of a new life on the land were not realised, but for others, rural SA life was exactly what they needed to thrive.
Graham Dean's father Ernest was one of the many young men who did just that.
Sailing to Australia on the SS Balranald, Ernest apprenticed on the EP at Elbow Hill for just 20 months before he was released from his apprenticeship.
"They released him on the account that he could do better working on his own than as an apprentice," Graham said.
"He then went on to work for various different farmers throughout the years until he eventually met and married my mother in Kimba and settled down doing town work.
"Unfortunately, a lot of our dad's didn't tell us a great deal about the scheme, but that was just the way their generation operated - it's only since we've all got together and shared stories that we've got a better insight into what life was really like for them."
The boys - and now their children and grandchildren - have been meeting on an at least annual basis since the 1970s.
Spearheaded by Avon Hill apprentice Alec Best, what started as a couple of mates catching up to chat about a shared experience has turned into something much larger, with descendants from at least 100 Barwell Boys now connected.
Alec's son Don carries on his father's legacy, organising the reunions, with the group commemorating 100 years since the beginning of the scheme late last month.
"My father was maybe one of the unlucky ones," Don said. "When he met his employer, he said to him, 'this is where you'll be sleeping for the night'.
"And it was a chicken coop and so he had to make his own bed and get himself organised, which was a pretty rough start for him.
"My dad for instance, was the son of a tailor. He had a very comfortable life in England, living in a two-storey house and didn't even clean his own shoes, so coming out here was a totally different story for him."
Despite the culture shock, Alec did the best with what he was given, although his poor experience with his first employer made that difficult.
"He moved around a bit to different employers, but his first employer was one of the toughest," Don said.
"His boss was going to move to Parilla from Avon and told my dad he would have to take a team of horses with a cartload of goods and chattels - including the chickens - through the Adelaide Hills to the new property.
"When he eventually got there, he told his boss he was leaving and walked to the train station where he ended up back at Avon with a farmer who treated him very well.
"Despite the rough start, he loved Australia and it was always home for him."
A select committee report in 1924 revealed that of the 1444 Barwell Boys who eventually migrated, 467 had been transferred, 114 had left with government consent, 84 had absconded, and nine had died.
The newly-elected Labor government that year disbanded the scheme but it was reintroduced in 1927, bringing out 125 more apprentices as 'Little Brothers'.
Stories such as those of AEH Rackliff, who was one of the first to arrive on SA shores in June 1922 and apprenticed under future MP Rufus Goldney at Balaklava, or John (Jack) Thomas Hancox who boarded the SS Bendigo bound for SA, arriving in March 1923, where he went on to apprentice at Barunga Gap, are plenty.
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During Jack's apprenticeship with a W Walton, his boss took up land at Wharminda.
He helped the Walton boys in droving sheep overland to Wharminda, before completing his apprenticeship in April 1926, with records confirming that he 'served in a satisfactory manner'.
Jack was paid 4 shillings in pocket money, the remainder of his wages were sent to the Immigration Department and banked for him.
If he needed extra money for clothes or other goods, the Department and Mr. Walton had to approve.
In August 1927, Jack was allocated Block 10, Hundred of Verran, with the Waltons helping his to clear the scrub on his block.
Unfortunately he lost his farm during the depression, with he and his wife Dulce and their children moving to Port Lincoln where he worked for Chas Geddes, as well as buying the Boston Provision Store.
Joe Rich sailed into SA at just 16 after fooling his father into signing a permission slip.
He came off the ship wearing a three-piece wool suit in middle of summer
He worked at Lochiel and, despite heading back to England, returned in retirement and is buried at Lochiel with "The Lochiel Apprentice" engraved on his headstone.
Cummins apprentice Alfred William Taylor arrived on the EP through the scheme and spent the majority of his life there sharefarming before purchasing a dairy farm in the 1960s, while the last surviving Barwell Boy, Harold Henry Marlow, died at the commendable age of 101 at Yankalilla after a life in SA.
Harold told his story to the State Library in 1992 and to his daughter Dorothy Gifford, who recently launched a book 'In his own words' about some of his experiences.
The first memorial to the British farm apprentices was erected at Culburra in 2009, in memory of Joseph Smith, who came across on the SS Largs Bay in 1922.
The restored plough sits on the Dukes Highway, opposite a paddock Joe once ploughed.
Beth Carter, daughter of Alfred Taylor, is making plans to erect another memorial near Cummins, in memory of those who helped shape the Eyre Peninsula.
"The sacrifices all of our fathers made is beyond anything we could imagine doing at such a young age, but without that, we wouldn't be where we are today and I don't think any of us could be more grateful," Don said.
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Katie Jackson
Journalist at Stock Journal. Born into a journo family in the state's South East, Katie made the move to the big smoke to join the team in early 2022 after seven years spent at various mastheads in the regions.
Journalist at Stock Journal. Born into a journo family in the state's South East, Katie made the move to the big smoke to join the team in early 2022 after seven years spent at various mastheads in the regions.
