Returning soldier Percy Cootes was an early settler at Kaiwhakauka Valley after the end of World War I.
Today his great-grandson Michael West farms the once-abandoned land with his wife Raewyn, who has written a book about Cootes and the other families who moved to the area as part of the returned servicemen settlement scheme.
West will launch her book Remembering Them at Wanganui RSA on Sunday.
She says Remembering Them is an archival record compiled initially for the descendants and families.
"It answers many of the questions regarding the arrival and the exodus of the returned servicemen in the Mangapurua and Kaiwhakauka Valleys," she says.
The author says it was through her affinity with the land and her passion to see that the settlers were not forgotten that this book was born.
"The research has been a three-year journey which involved meeting many descendants and family members of the original returned servicemen, the highlight of the entire process."
The valley settlement, the last and largest returned servicemen settlement scheme, was unsuccessful due to circumstances beyond the control of the eager, hard-working settlers.
Due to the lack of thorough forethought and planning by the Government of the time, the next level to sustainable farming was never reached.
Although the settlers pleaded for help so they could continue developing and farming the valleys, they were ignored.
"When their country needed them they answered the call.
"When they called out for help, they were ignored," West says.
It was not the failure of the settlers and their families to farm the land, the book explains, but a failure of the Government to stand behind the returned servicemen and support them through the times of trial, hardship and the financial depression which covered the whole country.
Remembering Them is a factual account showing the process the returned servicemen went through in trying to set up a community in the beautiful Mangapurua and Kaiwhakauka Valleys and the issues that prevented them.
Friends of The Whanganui River invite guests to the launch of Remembering Them at Wanganui RSA 170 St Hill St, Sunday March 25 from 2 to 4pm. Light refreshments will be served.