 Between 1918 and 1934, 11,639 returned servicemen were allocated blocks under the soldier settlement scheme.Most settled in the Mallee, South Gippsland, the Western District and the irrigation areas of the North West, Central Gippsland near Maffra and Sale and in the Goulburn Valley.During the 1920s soldier settlers struggled and of those allocated blocks under the scheme, only sixty-one per cent were on blocks in 1934.