But age wearied the poplar and it had to be removed due to ill health.

On Saturday, descendants of Martin Young planted a new tree along the avenue - a two-year-old English oak - which should last as long as his family's memory of the 33-year-old machine gunner who enlisted in 1916 and eventually found himself in France in 1918.

Six members of Mr Young's family helped dig in the oak tree for their digger ancestor - daughter-in-law Alice Young, grandsons Max, Greg, Chris and Roger, and great grandson Liam.

The new tree, which was grown by Ballarat Specialist School, now sits alongside that which honours Martin's brother Leslie John ("Jack") Young, within sight of the Burrumbeet racecourse.

Greg Young said he was honoured to play his part in replanting his grandfather's tree.

"We were contacted by Pamela, who is related to my grandfather on his sister's side," Greg Young said.

"She contacted us less than a month ago, and told us there is a bit of a push to have things done for the 100th anniversary of Anzac Day. Everyone was able to be here this weekend, which is really good.

"Anzac Day always means a lot to me. There is a sense of pride within the family. To consider what these boys did is very humbling.

"This is just one of many avenues of honour. I notice them a lot more now after having an involvement."

Martin Young's tree was one of the last to be planted to complete the Ballarat Avenue of Honour ahead of Anzac Day.

He famously wrote a note to a sweetheart back home, placed it in a bottle and threw it into the Indian Ocean in 1916. In 1967 the bottle washed ashore more than 300 kilometres south of Perth and the note was returned to its intended recipient Kate Rollason (nee Harris). The bottle and its contents are now on display at the Australian War Museum in Canberra.

After the war Mr Young married an English nurse Elsie Hinton. Kate Harris, meanwhile, became engaged to a soldier who later died in France and then married a baker, Arthur Rollason, and moved to Euroa.