William Wereta of Patea left New Zealand as a 29-year-old to serve with the 28th Maori Battalion.
He was killed in action at El Alamein on October 26, 1942, leaving his wife, son Bill and 9-month-old daughter, Topsy Gardner.
"He got to meet me but I was too young to remember," said Topsy, now 71.
After his passing, her uncle became her whangai-father.
"When I was old enough to be told, Mum said my dad had died overseas. She sent us to Anzac parades and I've never forgotten the first one I went to," she said.
All she had to remember her father by were a few photos and comments from people who knew him.
"Mum didn't tell us much about what he was like. She was invited to go over to Egypt when he died but she didn't because she thought he hadn't written to her and didn't care any more," she said.
Two years ago, after the death of her mother's sister, Topsy's cousin made a discovery. "She gave me a whole bunch of letters my father had written to Mum, but her younger sister had kept them. That was just mean," she said.
Topsy's mother never saw the letters before her death. Topsy read in her father's letters that he had been asking about her.
"How's my little girl?" he wrote.
When Maori Battalion members visited Patea they would talk about her father.
"Oh, your father's a nice man. It's a pity he didn't come back," they would say to her.
The Government is funding El Alamein veterans' return travel to the battle site to mark its anniversary in October.
However, Topsy had to find the money herself, not easy for someone whose job for 12 years has been delivering papers around her hometown, on foot, twice a week.
As a life-long member of the Patea RSA, the members knew her situation. Patea RSA welfare officer Dennis McKenna said the small group of veterans paid the $7500 for her trip.
"I was at school with Topsy and her brother Bill. I used to play rugby with Bill. One day my father was watching the game and Bill said to me, 'You're lucky your dad is watching you play'. I've never forgotten it," Dennis said.
As a tear rolled down her cheek, Topsy said she looked forward to her time in Egypt.
Every year she lays a wreath at the Patea Cenotaph and is always out, rain or shine, on the streets of Patea on Poppy Day.
"If it hadn't have been for the RSA boys I wouldn't have got there," she said. "The boys have done a lot for me."
Topsy isn't one for getting dressed up but said she would have to go shopping for such a special occasion.
Topsy will lay poppies on the graves of South Taranaki soldiers also buried at El Alamein: George Edward Fitzsimon (35) 21st Battalion, killed in action on November 24, 1941; Kapi Wirihama (23) of Waitotara, 28 Maori Battalion, killed in action April 22, 1943; Private Johnston Sullivan (25), 28 Maori Battalion, killed in action May 7, 1942; Francis Joseph Sullivan (36) 28 Maori Battalion, killed in action February 1, 1942; Wiri Karipa (24) 28 Maori Battalion, killed in action April 9, 1942; Teira Pokai (32) killed in action December 16, 1941.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
The Patea RSA members are hoping the community can help Topsy with a new wardrobe. She has two new hips and will need tramping shoes, a warm jacket and slacks.
"She is our whanau," says Denis McKenna, "and we would be grateful if someone wanted to contribute to outfit Topsy."
If you are interested in helping Topsy, please contact the Patea RSA, PO Box 68, Patea, or call Denis on 06 278 3312