The nine recruitment marches were a response to Britian's appeal for more soldiers to help fight on the Western Front in France. It resulted in several recruitment drives including one beginning from the Snowy River Region.

The fascinating tale has been chronicled by Delegate resident Natalie Armstrong in the novel The Men from Snowy River. It was officially launched at the Queanbeyan Returned Servicemens League this week.

"I thought this was something that'd never really been documented. Although we had little bits of information about the march, we really didn't have it all in one place," she said.

"Recruitment numbers were satisfactory in the cities and larger towns, but had fallen off in rural areas. So the idea of recruitment marches was born, with appeals going out to the more isolated areas of Australia, the marches were called 'snowball' marches."

The book covers the start of the campaign beginning on January 6, 1916 when twelve men set out from Delegate and travelled through Queanbeyan, Cooma, Canberra and Goulburn. It also recounts the soldiers' experiences joining the 55th battalion.

The Men from Snowy River has been released just two years before the 100th anniversary.

A reenactment of the recruitment march will be held in November, 2015 ahead of the centenary celebrations the following year. The reenactment will start in Delegate and pass through all the original towns before concluding in Sydney for a joint commemoration with all the other recruitment marches.

n To be part of the reenactment or purchase a copy of the Men from Snowy River visit www.themenfromsnowyriver.com.au.