While the nation marks 100 years since the first Anzacs left from Albany in Western Australia to fight in WWI, a Wellington connection has been recognised at the National Anzac Centre (NAC).
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Snow a'Beckett's father, Hastings Elwin a'Beckett, enlisted at Wellington on November 23 1914 in the 6th Lighthorse, 1st Battalion, 1st AIF. He was number 550.
"This is pretty early in the piece considering there were hundreds of thousands of men," curator of the Oxley Museum Dorothy Blake said.
"This means a lot; someone from Wellington will be recognised in a national museum. He is the only one we know who will have this kind of recognition."
Snow a'Beckett (who fought in WWII) said it made him proud to think that his father's story would be shared at the NAC.
"He was a very good person and he did a lot for us kids," he said.
Mr a'Beckett remembered his father as a very kind man who never lost his temper.
While he rarely spoke about his experience of the war, Snow a'Beckett remembered him saying how close the enemy trenches were in France, close enough for them to throw grenades into enemy lines at night.
"It was a pretty wild sort of war," he said.
Robert a'Beckett, nephew of Hastings a'Beckett remembered his uncle telling him a story about how a cat saved his life in a dugout.
"The cat had kittens and she started to pick them up one by one and take them somewhere else.
"He thought that if it was good enough for the cat, he would leave too and sometime later the place got hit," Mr a'Beckett said.
"He would have seen as much as anybody in that war. He had a good sense of humour and a strong personality. He was the most formidable man I knew."
Hastings was 24 years old when he enlisted with the 6th Lighthorse and travelled to Egypt for training.
He didn't arrive at Anzac Cove until May and shortly after landing he was attached to the 1st Australian Anzac Cove Divisional Headquarters as a military policeman before being promoted to Lance Corporal, then to full Corporal.
He was part of the main evacuation at Anzac Cove in 1915 and commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in 1916 before arriving in France where he was later awarded the Military Cross.
Wounded several times, it was in 1918 that he nearly lost his life when he was shot through the jaw.
Robert a'Beckett said his uncle remembered regaining consciousness and hearing his fellow soldiers speaking about him as though he were dead.
"It was then that he made an effort at movement and they realised he was still alive."
On Armistice Day, November 11 1918 he was given leave until his return trip to Australia.
