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HMHS Maheno, which was named after the town, was one of two passenger liners that were converted by the New Zealand government into hospital ships during World War I.
It was crewed by civilian officers, the ship's medical staff were drawn from the ranks of the New Zealand Medical Corps and its nurses from the New Zealand Nursing Service.
Maheno was a commercial vessel retrofitted into a hospital ship that was publicly funded by New Zealanders in 1914.
The ship treated Anzac troops who were injured in battles at Gallipoli, Flanders and the Somme, transported them to nearby hospitals or repatriated them back to New Zealand.
It transported more than 2200 soldiers from the Gallipoli peninsula to hospitals during the fateful 1915 campaign and evacuated about 11,000 soldiers from the battlefields in France to England between August and October 1916.
The small rural town's residents turned out in full force for the commemorative ceremony, which was also attended by Waitaki Mayor Gary Kircher, Queensland Member of Parliament Ted Sorensen, representatives from the Australian High Commission, and descendants of some of HMHS Maheno's crew members and New Zealand Defence Force personnel.
Commander Kerry Tutty from NZDF's Defence Health Directorate said it was fitting on the centenary of the Armistice to celebrate the contribution of HMHS Maheno.
"We remember the generations of New Zealand servicemen and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice to secure the freedom that we enjoy today.
"Our young men and women across the NZDF continue to serve their country in much the same way, some paying the ultimate price, but all with the same sense of selfless drive," she said.
Maheno was wrecked after running aground off Fraser Island, Queensland in 1935.\\
