The New Zealand soldiers who fought and fell in the Battle of Le Quesnoy during World War I were remembered in Whangamata on Wednesday.

About 50 people gathered in the rain at the WWI Memorial Forest site in Whangamata that honours those who fell in the last battle of the Great War, fought on 4 November 1918.

Beryl Wharton and her grandson Timothy Clarke pay tribute to their relative, Sergeant Vincent Stephenson Twidle, who was killed in the Battle of Le Quesnoy on 4 November 1918. Photo: TCDC

Gathering for the ceremony were relatives of the soldiers, service personnel, RSA and Lions members, Thames-Coromandel mayor Glenn Leach and Waikato Regional Council chair Paula Southgate.

Guest speakers included Thames High School student Timothy Clarke and his grandmother Beryl Wharton, the niece of Sergeant Vincent Stephenson Twidle who was killed in the battle – just one week before the end of the war.

'At age 26, Vincent signed up,” explains Timothy. 'His brothers came home but he didn't. It would have been heart-breaking news for his family as he was unmarried and had plenty more life to live.”

While carrying out research for a school assignment Timothy discovered his great uncle's war record and learned he'd been killed liberating the French town of Le Quesnoy from German troops.

'Learning about Vincent's life coincided with news of the World War One Memorial Forest being planted in Whangamata,” he says. 'The World War One Memorial Forest at Whangamata will be a special place to honour Vincent Twidle and his comrades.

'People say, ‘Lest we forget'. We haven't forgotten.”

The council reserve where 122 trees have been planted to remember the 122 soldiers who died liberating Le Quesnoy has now been officially renamed ‘Le Quesnoy Park'.

It's one of seven Memorial Forest sites around the Coromandel which either honour the fallen from a specific battle like Le Quesnoy, of the war dead of a town, like Thames's Rhodes Park.

In total some 3,000 trees have been planted this year since Anzac Day. In June, the project was officially launched by Conservation Minister Maggie Barry at the Gallipoli Memorial Forest site.