''The rotten war'' - it was Private Alexander Mee's description of World War 1 in a letter to his wife, Jessie, on October 4, 1917.
Eight days later, he went missing near Ypres, in Belgium, and was never seen again.
In a letter dated September 23, 1917, he said: ''They say we are going this week on to the front line up Ypres way. A pretty lively place, I think.''
A later letter said of the conflict: ''You get fed up on it.''
The tragic conclusion to Pte Mee's life is all the more striking because of the intimacy of the thoughts he shares in letters home to his wife.
Pte Mee, of Brighton, died aged 31 and left behind a pregnant widow.
An exhibition that centres on his life was unveiled at Archives New Zealand's Dunedin office earlier this week.
Pte Mee, who was born on April 15, 1886, married Jessie Coutts on February 27, 1917, shortly before he embarked for Europe.
A newspaper report from the time said ''while he was on final leave'' his friends gathered to ''bid him au revoir''.
It was while on leave that he ''joined the ranks of the benedicts''.
''After a brief honeymoon he and his wife were tendered a social evening,'' the report said.
When he left for Europe, he left behind not only his wife and friends, but his unborn child.
In a letter to his wife dated September 23, 1917, he talks of his excitement at meeting his child.
''I would do anything to be with you ... I hope I will be there in time for the christening,'' he wrote.
''Now, Goodnight love. my heart is ever with you. & I ask God to look after you till I return.''
He also spoke of the child's name: ''I will leave that to you whatever name you like best yourself. I know you will pick a good one,'' he wrote.
''You picked a good man so I have no doubt you will pick a good name. How about putting the name Coutts in. I think it would be alright. I would like it. But again I will leave it to you.''
But Pte Mee never returned and never learned the name of the boy. Alexander Coutts Mee was born on November 20, 1917, the day after a court of inquiry confirmed Pte Mee was missing, believed killed.
The family's tragedy did not finish with the war.
Jessie later remarried and died in childbirth in 1927.
Alexander Coutts Mee - who lived at Brighton, like his mother and father had - served as a sergeant with the Royal New Zealand Air Force during World War 2.
He survived when a plane on which he was second pilot crashed near Wakefield, in England, on March 18, 1941.
Tragically, less than two months later, on May 7, 1941, he was involved in another plane crash.
On that occasion the Wellington bomber he was a crewman on hit a barrage balloon and crashed on to the Trinity Sands, a tidal sand flat, in the River Humber in England.
He died along with four of five other crew on board.
New Zealand Archives archivist Vivienne Cuff said the story of Pte Mee was chosen for the exhibition because it embodied the tragedy of the war.
The story had ''resonated'' with her, especially considering the family's local links, she said.
''The letters make me sad, every time I read them, to think about the sacrifice that all families made in many ways.''
The collection of letters and Pte Mee's dairy was ''amazing'', she said.
The exhibition will remain on display until December 24.
