'It's a cracking yarn': Former senator, ANZAC veteran's memoir launches

It covered service in both World Wars, two-decades as a Major General in the British Raj and a stint as Tasmanian senator.

Award-winning military historian Peter Stanley called it "one of the most unusual military careers of any Australian".

Now, that outlandish first-hand account has been transcribed into a book.

In Hagley on Sunday, Major General Wordsworth's memoir, Last of the Cavalrymen, was launched by his daughter, Ana Scarf, one of the book's co-editors.

Originally motivated by a desire to understand her father's life, Mrs Scarf hoped to produce his history as a family project - something to share with her siblings and own children, including her daughter Charlotte, the book's other co-editor.

But as the story unfolded, and 40 years passed, Mrs Scarf said it became more extraordinary and that "it needed sharing."

"After all these years, we've put the pieces together and tracked all the facts down and it's remarkable," Mrs Scarf said.

"It's a cracking yarn."

Cavalrymen courses the breadth of the New South Wales-born military man's life, from his early career as a junior officer in the 1st Light Horse Brigade at Gallipoli to his time in Tasmania, where he held roles as a state senator and Norfolk Island administrator before his death in Longford at age 90.

Backed by photographs from the era and the family's archives, the memoir follows first-hand tellings of the Major General's transfer to the British Indian Army and his 25 years in the British Raj, with interspersed anecdotes on playing polo and big game hunting with maharajas and other royalty.

Much of the book ranges from the "unbelievable" to the stranger-than-fiction nature - yet all of them are verified by footnotes and historical research, making them "all the more incredible."

"It's funny because, for a long time he said, I don't think anyone would be interested in my story - but how couldn't people be?" Mrs Scarf said.

"And in the end, his children were interested, and it has meant a great deal to our family to have his life remembered in this way. I think he'd be extremely proud of it."

Last of the Cavalrymen (Forty South Publishing) will be available at Tasmanian bookstores from ANZAC Day.