Seventy-three-year-old Bill Mullin was a teenager the last time he saw his younger brother.
But the pair were reunited last month, for the first time in more than half a century, when a British television programme brought his brother, Thomas (70), to New Zealand.
Mr Mullin a retired Karitane forestry worker, said he left Liverpool, in England, when mandatory National Service was changed to a ballot system.
He had planned a career in the armed forces, but ''when I realised I wasn't going to be required to go in the army, I thought I may go overseas for a couple of years''.
''I left England in 1959 [as a 19-year-old] and never went back, so I haven't seen my brother for 54 years.''
After arriving in New Zealand, Bill Mullin got a job on an Otago sheep farm, before joining the New Zealand Forest Service.
He later married and had three daughters and two sons.
Thomas' granddaughter had been captivated by the tale of her grandfather's far-away brother.
She had seen the ITV programme Surprise, Surprise, on UK television, and contacted the show.
Bill Mullin said the UK show producers had made him aware his brother would come to New Zealand, but he did not know when.
''Then all of a sudden, surprise, surprise, he turned up on my front porch with a film crew.''
He said the pair ''yakked all the time'' during the 10-day visit by Thomas and his wife, Gillian.
Over the years, the brothers had sporadic contact by letter and, much later, via Skype.
''Obviously, it was great to see him again.
''I think we never stopped talking all the time he was here.
''The guy who was producing the show over here had trouble stopping us yapping.
''He thought he may get a bit more emotion out of either of us, but Tommy had warned him that I would probably come to the door and say: 'G'day Tom, what are you doing here?' and that's pretty much what happened.''
Bill and wife Stephanie's house was a busy place during the visit as extended family called in to catch up with their Liverpool relatives. Footage of the brothers' reunion will air in the United Kingdom on November 24.
