A soldier looks out over Waimate from the painted silos.

That soldier is Eric Batchelor.

He’s one of the country’s most decorated war heroes -  described at his funeral as an “ordinary extraordinary person”.

As we head into Anzac Day we look at the story behind the soldier on the silos - also known and The Ferret and The Waimate Warrior.

A bottle of beer was left at the Waihao Forks Hotel in 1939, for a soldier to drink when he returned from war.

He never did, and the bottle remains there to this day.

It makes the news most Anzac Days. Scottish comedian Billy Connolly called in to see it for himself while touring NZ.

Ted’s bottle is a sad reminder of all the young people who lost their lives while serving overseas.  

During the First World War, a lot of the district’s young people were a long way from home.

Farms still needed running, shops still opened, families got on with things - while waiting on letters, and sometimes, bad news.

In 1915, that news came with the sinking of the Marquette, a troop ship with British and Kiwi soldiers and medical staff onboard.

Small towns across Aotearoa New Zealand have a habit of paying tribute to the things that define them. There’s giant fruit, fish, a carrot and even a can of L&P.

In Waimate, we celebrate the mighty Clydesdales that helped break in the land here, with a white horse on the hill overlooking town.

More than a century on, Dr Margaret Cruickshank is still part of everyday life in Waimate.