It was the start of a remarkable period of service for Edward, who fought from December 1914 until March 1919.

Edward is the grandfather of local woman Colleen Northam, with the family having strong connections to World War I and World War II as well as the Korean War.

In roughly 1916 Edward was "blown up" in Gallipoli and lost his identity tags and memory.

Medical aid only knew he was Australian because of his accent, and so he was shipped back to Australia to recover.

He recovered his memory while home and insisted on going back to fight, saying "the job was not finished."

In the meantime his identity tag was found and Edward's daughter was notified that he was missing, believed dead.

He returned to France where he fought in several theatres of war, including the Somme.

During his time in France it was reported that he was made a 'King's Sergeant', a rank only attainable in the field and a position from which one could never be demoted unless for treason, and even then only by the King himself.

Colleen's aunty, Anne Patricia, the daughter of Edward, said of her father, "My dad had the most wonderful blue eyes and a mate of his told my mother that when he was in the trenches preparing to take the fight to the Germans, his blue eyes would flash and he would yell 'fix bayonets men and let's see how the bastards like a bit of cold steel,' and over the top he would go followed by all his men."

Edward was twice wounded in France, the first a bad head wound and the second a gaping hole in the back of his leg.

Upon returning Edward and his war bride were alloted land for a farm at Lansdowne, where they lived until the Great Depression forced them out to a new property at Singleton.

The family's association with world wide conflicts didn't end there though.

Edward had four children involved in WWII, including Colleen's father, Pat, who among other things was a Rat of Tobruk; Jim, who was born in Taree and was a prisoner of war in Changi; Anne, born under a tree at Coopernook when the river was in flood and who went on to become an ambulance driver; and Mary, born in Cundletown, who was a decoder during WWII.

The youngest brother of the family, Edmund 'Sonny', was too young for WWII, but enlisted for the Korean War where he was reported Missing In Action, presumed dead, on June 7, 1953.

Both Jim and Patricia re-enlisted in 1953 in the hope of finding him but no trace was found, with the Department of Defence taking family DNA samples in case bodies are ever recovered.

Colleen said her father Pat rarely spoke of the horrors of war, instead focused on the light-hearted moments.

"One of my Dad's horror stories was when they knew they had to bayonet a German boy to death before he killed you, because they had no ammunition," she said.

"He hated war and rarely spoke about his experiences."

Colleen's father, who settled in Taree after the war, never marched in Anzac Day commemorations, such was his hatred for war.

But Colleen and her family are proud of the achievements of their forebears.

With the 100th anniversary of Anzac, the family has compiled more information on their relatives than ever before.

"We're quite proud of them," said Colleen.

"It's pretty special."