This weekend marks 100 years since New Zealand's most successful day in WWI, when Kiwi troops helped liberate the small northern French town of Le Quesnoy.
Historian Chris Pugsley said, "This was one of the most successful days in New Zealand's military history".
Liberating the French town would turn out to be the Kiwis' last major battle of WWI.
The Kiwis spent much of the morning on November 4, 1918, scaling the outer walls when they were met with 13-metre-high, fortified 17th century city walls. However, they did not want to bomb them due to the thousands of French civilians still living inside under German occupation.
Then Second Lieutenant Leslie Averill found a way in - a path on a water gate which led to a small ledge just wide enough to put up a single ladder.
"When he gets to the top, he's there with his pistol. They see two faces - two German faces - they fire at them, they miss [and] the Germans race into town and say the tommies have arrived because they didn't know they were New Zealanders and everyone surrenders," Mr Pugsley explained.
No civilians were killed in the incident.
Mike Bott's grandfather, Second Corporal John Alfred Randall, was in the thick of it.
"What he did was that he carried a ladder - a 30-foot orchard ladder, we believe, made of wood - something like 12 hundred yards under heavy fire," Mr Bott said.
"[He] got all these people sat up on these walls with heavy duty machine guns firing at you. You just can't get your head around it."
Mr Bott's grandfather was decorated for his acts.
So too was Private Eng King How Chow, who is believed to be the only ANZAC of Chinese descent to liberate the town.
His great niece, Dianne How Chow, like many descendants, has come for the centenary commemorations.
"I guess they didn't know what was on the other side. They didn't know they probably weren't going to get fired at, and I guess it's very fortunate that the Germans did retreat," Ms How Chow said.
Alison Schofield's grandfather, John Clemow, was one of the first soldiers up the ladder.
"He told me how this wall was quite a feat and he was very proud of his involvement in liberating this town with no casualties of civilians," Ms Schofield said.
The town's freedom came at a cost to New Zealand, with more than 140 soldiers killed in the battle.
However, the town is eternally grateful, with the New Zealand flag proudly dotting the town's squares and shops, and their streets bearing familiar names.
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