In a letter to his favourite sister, Kate, he promised to “bring home enough medals to give you girls one each and have a Victoria Cross for myself.”

Perhaps there was no VC, but the medals came — and then were lost.

But today, after nearly 100 years, the light horseman’s medals are coming home to be reunited with those of his brother, David, at Eskdale’s Anzac Day ceremonies.

David’s grandson, Richard Crispin, managed to track the medals down after becoming interested in the military history of his grandfather.

“The medals had been handed down a long-lost line of the family,” he said.

“I was really surprised because, after 90-odd years, I didn’t have much hope we’d find them.

“But we also pulled up a long-lost cousin who’s coming down from Queensland.”

Jim was awarded the Victory Medal, British War Service Medal and the 1914-15 Star, which were sent after the war to an elder brother.

“Jim must have been one of the very first to join up,” Richard said.

“And I was curious, when Mitta was so isolated in those days, what made two brothers and 40 other blokes in the district fight a foreign war?

“The further into it, the deeper I got into it.

“None of them had any idea what they were getting into.”

Now a horse breeder at Jindabyne, Richard is bringing one of his Walers – a breed made famous by their army service – to lead the march.

“About 139,000 went to war and none came back,” he said.

David’s daughter, Georgina, now 82, said her father, like so many returned soldiers, never talked about the war.

“I’d say: ‘but Dad, we won the war’,” Georgina said.

“And he’d say: ‘there’s no winners in war, only what we lost’.

“He didn’t talk about his brother but we knew of him of course.

“Uncle Jim and dad were running towards the German line. They’d been told to run no matter what happened, just keep running.

“They were side by side at the Battle of Bullecourt (1917). Dad was wounded and Uncle Jim was killed.

“It was before we were born and others in the family might have a different view, but Uncle Jim was in our memory as a hero.”

Marcus Ellis is chairman of the historical society that has run Eskdale’s Anzac ceremonies for 12 years.

“It’s a very important day and everyone looks forward to it,” he said.

Reunions will always stir up emotions, especially on a day like today, one charged with meaning and a sense of occasion.

For the Swasbrick family, there’s the bringing together of old memories and new-found family members.

And among it all is the chance to remember the sacrifice of all the young men and boys like Jim and David.

“There’s probably too much to do so I won’t have time to be emotional,” Georgina said.

“But I might have a cry on the way home.”