One hundred years after he committed to back Britain "to the last man and the last shilling" in WWI, Australian prime minister Andrew Fisher is being commemorated in London.
Although the Labor leader was elected three times, in 1908, 1910 and 1914, and has his fingerprints across modern Australia, Mr Fisher is recalled by many historians as the country's "forgotten prime minister".
His party is looking to rectify that, and will honour the man who sent Australian troops in to fight with British soldiers as the centenary outbreak of WWI is marked next week.
Officials will host a guided walk on Sunday through London's West Hampstead cemetery, where Fisher is buried, before a presentation and - in well-blended Brit and Aussie style - a barbecue at a local pub.
Biographer David Day says Fisher is often overshadowed in history by his successor Billy Hughes, but as the man who founded Canberra, introduced old-age pensions and maternity allowances, formed the country's navy, and established the Commonwealth Bank, he is well worth remembering.
"He was not only important to Australia but internationally because he was the first socialist prime minister elected to power in any nation in the world," Day told AAP.
The Labor triumph in both houses of parliament in 1910 led the way for future socialist governments worldwide, as Fisher offered a reassurance that "the sky wasn't going to fall in" if a workers' party was in power, Day said.
He is perhaps best known for an election speech made in opposition at the outbreak of war in 1914, in which he vowed Australia would "stand beside the mother country to help and defend her to the last man and the last shilling".
Following that speech he was returned to power and, as an outspoken opponent of conscription, set up a voluntary armed force.
ALP Abroad president Paul Smith, based in London, said the government's decision against mandatory military service paved the way for the Anzac spirit as it is known today.
"This commemoration is for an Australian who shaped Australia as a country that is democratic and fair, and made Australia the centre of the world for social progress," Smith said.
"I think by commemorating Andrew Fisher we have the opportunity to look at the type of Australia we would like to be, as well as what we were."
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