Last week, it culminated in the unveiling of one of the most ostentatious commemorative sculptures in the country.

In 2013, when he stood before a cramped crowd on Anzac Day, Hervey Bay RSL sub-branch president John Kelsey promised the town an expanded Freedom Park for next year's Gallipoli landing centenary celebrations.

As part of the expansion, the RSL members decided a commemorative statue would be a nice addition to the expanded memorial space.

Little did they realise what they were unleashing.

"We spoke to a few artists and sculptors to say, 'Let's put up a new memorial for the new park,' " he said.

"Then we spoke to this sculptor from the Sunshine Coast who said, Llet's go out of the box and say, rather than soldiers, let's do a real action figure.' "

Half a million dollars later, action figure is exactly what they got.

The three-metre tall bronzed sculpture by Maroochydore's Mark Snell depicts a mounted lighthorseman jumping an enemy trench in the Battle of Beersheeba, the final charge of the Light Horse Regiment in 1917.

Unlike many other commemorative war statues, Mr Kelsey said, this one honours the 160,000 horses that played as much a part on World War I battlefields as the soldiers.

"You look at that and I think it's something that's one of the biggest (Anzac) projects done in Queensland, apart from in Brisbane," he said.

"We turned it not only into a tribute to the Anzacs but to the 160,000 horses that went to war.

"We have a beautiful plaque honouring not only the soldiers but the horses too."

The official unveiling of the statue on October 11 attracted an array of interested onlookers, including National RSL president Ken Doolan, a range of military dignitaries and even the Belgian ambassador to Australia, who addressed the crowd.

"He heard about it and wanted to come up and pay tribute to the Australians," Mr Kelsey said.

"He said it was to thank Australia for saving his little country during the First World War."

The federal and state governments provided a combined $120,000 in funding for the project and the Hervey Bay RSL has raised the rest in fund-raising efforts.

Mr Kelsey said there remained $80,000 to raise.

In addition to the statue, he said, the original promise to expand the park has also been fulfilled and it is now five times the size that it was two years ago.

And though appreciative of their magnificent park addition, Mr Kelsey and his team appear glad to be putting it behind them.

"I can have a rest now," he joked.

"My committees told me not to wake up at 3am with any more bright ideas."