About 250 attended the unveiling of the Kelso-Glenkenich war memorial, looking back to when the township was a bustling community.
West Otago RSA secretary Horace McAuley said it was a ''shock and real pleasure'' to see so many attend the one-off service.
He thanked West Otago Community Board deputy chairman John Herbert for beginning the project.
''By hook or crook this was going to happen ... and it did.''
Mr Herbert said his father first floated the idea, as descendants and relatives of those who left the Kelso-Glenkenich area needed to have somewhere to pay their respects.
''These people should never be forgotten. And their names are now set in stone.''
Board chairwoman Barbara Hanna and war veteran Bill Roulston unveiled the concrete and granite memorial.
Long-time Kelso resident and Rural Women New Zealand member Alison Duff was the guest speaker, and talked about Agnes Herbert, who served in World War 1 as a nurse, and is the only woman on the Kelso-Glenkenich roll of honour.
Former Kelso woman Sadie Lietze (89) said it was a special moment to see the new memorial, but admitted she and a friend had a ''sneak peek'' a week or two ago.
Mrs Leitze (nee Stuart) has lived in West Otago for most of her life. She was working in Dunedin when she answered the recruiter's request to join the New Zealand Women's Land Service in 1942.
She moved to Tara Hills Station, near Omarama ,when she was 19, but after two years she asked for a transfer and was sent to Kelso.
''It was a bustling community, and I had many happy times in the Kelso hall. It was a lovely crowd, lovely people. It was a real go-ahead place.''
She left the land service in 1946 and married William (Bill) the same year.
The couple stayed in Kelso until 1981, when they moved to Tapanui, where Mrs Leitze still resides.
The memorial cost about $7000 - right on budget. The Clutha District Council set aside $2000 from its war memorial repairs budget for the project.
The concrete war memorial is almost 2m high and reproduces the names of those on the Kelso-Glenkenich honours board. There are 99 names from the area.
The idea was brought to the board's attention last March and members agreed to speak to the West Otago community to gauge public support for it.
