Richmond man Colin Andrews wants to know more about his Wanganui grandfather, who rose in rank from private to Lieutenant Colonel in World War I.
From joining the Wanganui Rifles in 1896, aged 15, as a private, he had risen to Lt Colonel by June 1919 - remarkable for a New Zealander. He was made an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1918 and a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1919.
He finished his military service in the London War Office in 1920.
The World War I centennial has focused Mr Andrews' thoughts on his forgotten relative.
He never met his maternal granddad, and he and his children would like to know more about him. He's been told the former soldier often dwelt on his war years.
Details are sketchy, and mostly from army records.
James Taylor Watson was born in Glasgow, Scotland, on October 22, 1881. His first recorded links with the army were when he joined the Wanganui Rifles on June 9, 1896, aged 15.
In Wanganui he had some kind of importing business. In 1900 he married Margaret Gerrie.
He served with the Wellington West Coast regiment overseas from February 11 1915 to November 28, 1920. Much of that time was spent in Egypt, but by 1919 he was in the War Office in London.
"He must have had skills in that direction," Mr Andrews said.
He returned to New Zealand in 1920, split up with his wife within a few years and then had a tobacconist business in Wellington. He was awarded four medals.
He died in Lake Alice Hospital in 1961.
"It seems sad to me that such a soldier with such a record is forgotten," Mr Andrews said.