But Kiwi soldiers continued to die long after Armistice Day in 1918, with veterans succumbing to physical wounds, or dying prematurely when mental illness pushed them towards alcohol abuse or suicide.
The physical effects were lifelong for those who were amputees, or who suffered permanent lung damage from poisonous gas exposure, Wilson said.
Some soldiers also returned from the war with gonorrhoea or syphilis, posing risks to their sexual partners back home in New Zealand.
There is evidence that the health impacts on the families of military personnel continued to be felt by the following generation, Wilson said.
"We know from modern information that when a woman is widowed when she is pregnant, the shock can impact on the developing fetus which can then cause a reduced long-term lifespan as an adult," he said.
Another one of the study authors, Professor Glyn Harper of Massey University, said the First World War was probably the greatest destroyer of New Zealand families ever.
"It generated many widows but also killed sons who were needed to keep family farms and businesses operating," he said.
"While the 1918 flu pandemic killed 9000 New Zealanders in two months in late 1918, this war caused more than double that number of deaths overall – and these were particularly men in their 20s and 30s."
One hundred years later, the study authors say there are still gaps in our knowledge of the health impacts of the war.
New Zealand researchers are, however, very well placed to do further research because of the digitisation of military files – which are now available online.
"While there is still more to learn, it is already clear that from a health perspective New Zealand paid a high price in health terms for its part in this war," Wilson said.
