Leo Leonard Scott

Ship name / Flight number: SS Berrima

Arrival Date: 25/01/1928

Left, Leo Leonard Scott in Singapore in 1941 with the Australian Army. Right, on his wedding day in December 1940 with wife Anne and their bridal party.

Leo Leonard Scott arrived at Adelaide’s Outer Harbor from Birmingham on his 16th birthday. Through the Big Brother scheme, he was placed with a farmer near Yankalilla to learn fruit growing and farm work.

The adjustment was difficult. Leo moved between three farmers and wrote to officials asking for advances on his pay to buy clothes and boots. When his apprenticeship ended, he stayed in Australia, taking on odd jobs and living for a time as a swagman.

Years later, Leo served in the Australian Army during the Second World War. He was captured and forced to work on the Burma Railway as a prisoner of war. After returning to Australia, he built a life with his wife Anne and their four children.

Leo’s daughter Natalie and granddaughter Joanne recently discovered his letters in the collection of State Records of South Australia. The documents gave them a new understanding of his first years in Australia and the determination that shaped his life.

Read Leo’s full story at State Records of South Australia

Story based on research by Anthony Caggiano, State Records of South Australia