A one-off special edition of Long Lost Family looks at children who were banished from the UK to Australia in the middle of the 20th century and the horrific abuse they faced. And the ITV special on Monday, April 25, also shows what happened when two of them were reunited with their UK relatives decades on.
The children who were promised a ‘better life’ include Dorian Thomas Reece and Rex and Kevin Wilton. Dorian, now a retired soldier, was sent to Australia from a care home home near Birmingham. As a child, Dorian had no sense of a mother or father – he’d assumed they’d either given him away or died.
He fearfully documents his memories of a home run by Christian brothers. Dorian, a victim of emotional and sexual abuse, said he had "horrible memories" of the beatings and paints a picture of a "man with a limp" who terrified the children.
