Likely Lads and Lasses

In the early years of the last century a group of patriotic citizens, concerned at German naval expansion, decided to raise money to buy a battleship. When their offer was politely rebuffed, they decided to 'defend' Australia in another way - importing British youths to work on rural properties. The aim was simply to fill Australia's empty spaces with young people of white, essentially Anglo-Saxon stock. Some 50,000 young people were brought to Australia under the youth migration schemes. This book tells, for the first time, their collective story.