Southland's World War One casualties have finally been recorded in one book, thanks to a project started 35 years ago by a then sixth form Central Southland student.

Bryce Horrell always had an interest in history and originally just wanted to record the names from his local war memorial, but was told no one would be interested.

"At that time, the 60s and 70s and 80s, no one gave a toss about the First World War guys," Horrell said.

Despite the early knockback, Horrell continued, with a quiet aim of compiling a complete list of everyone from the south who went to the Great War.

"Some people enjoy golf, some people enjoy bowls, and I can understand that, and I enjoy finding weird things out about people that are 100 years dead."

Horrell's quest for concise and accurate information was never straightforward.

"For quite a number of years I went down to the library and went through the Southland Times and Southland Daily News on the microfilms. There's lots of little biographies and information there."

Embarkation records also required careful scrutiny as anyone with next-of-kin addresses outside the province (around 20%) weren't readily identifiable as Southlanders, he said.

Also relying on local memorial boards presented challenges, as soldiers who were educated outside their district missed being recorded on the local school's memorial board.

However, Horrell said First World War photographs were great for finding people as there were hundreds of different badges and patches that helped him narrow his search.

The advent of online newspaper archives, while good, forced Horrell to rethink the way he was doing things.

"I spent five years doing a job that I then turned around and did again properly, because of technology."

Horrell said he had now successfully collected the names of 16,000 Southland servicemen and women who served in the Great War.

It was during preparations in 2014 for Southland's 100-year commemoration of the First World War that Horrell realised he had more than enough material for a book.

Southland's Sacrifice concentrates on just those who didn't return home, as the numbers were more manageable and there were more photos and information on them, Horrell said.

"My intention was for [his book] to be the go-to if someone wants to know about men that were killed from the First World War," he said.

However, he acknowledges the book will never be completely finished.

"There's [still] unidentified men in here." he said.

"What I'd really like to see [now] is the photos, to put more faces to names - that would be the big one," Horrell said. "[Or] if people know of a memorial that's still lurking in the bottom of a shed somewhere."

Horrell said his next project may be Southlanders in the Second World War, but he will be waiting until their service records are online this time.

WIN A SIGNED COPY OF BRYCE'S BOOK

CLICK HERE to go into the draw to win a copy of Bryce's book "Southland's Sacrifice - Fatal Casualties on Southland's Great War Memorials".

Visit www.fairdinkumbooks.com or email [email protected] to purchase from the author.