The voice of a young Anzac who was killed in France in 1916 lives on in a recorded message he sent his family for Christmas.

Twenty-four-year-old Private Henry Miller Lanser recorded his letter on a hand pressed shellac disc in late 1914 or early 1915 at the Cairo studio of Armenian businessman Setrak Mechian.

He was training in Egypt with the First Australian Infantry Battalion in the lead up to the Gallipoli landing.

Lanser's disc 'the only one of its kind'

Private Henry Miller Lanser sailed to Egypt with the First Australian Infantry Battalion in October 1914 and was killed in France in 1916. ( Courtesy Australian War Memorial. )

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Listen Duration: 3 minutes 28 seconds 3 m 28 s Listen to the Christmas message Henry Miller Lanser recorded for his family. ( Courtesy Australian War Memorial ) Download 1.6 MB

Concept leader for the development of the new World War I galleries at the Australian War Memorial (AWM), Nick Fletcher, said the private wished his family "good luck" during the recording.

"He speaks very much as though he were in the room with the family," Mr Fletcher said.

"He speaks quite clearly, which is nice, but there's none of that informality that you would get in a modern recording."

Private Lanser began his three-and-a-half minute recorded letter by greeting his "dear" mother and father, and Ethel, Beattie and Basil.

"This is rather a novelty to come to Australia this way," he said.

"But here I am, can't see and can't be seen or welcomed in the usual way with a hug or a kiss."

He spoke about the training which was getting "heavier every day" and wished his family "a real, jolly good Christmas".

He signed off with "goodbye and good luck".

The Lanser disc is the only known recorded letter made by an Australian soldier during WWI and is believed to be the only one of its kind in the world.

A missing chunk indicates it may have been dropped at some time.

But the AWM has been able to copy the original recording from the metal master disc, which had also been sent to Private Lanser's family.

Listening to a legendary figure in history

Private Lanser enlisted in Sydney in September 1914, just weeks after the war was declared.

He was wounded twice at Gallipoli but made a full recovery, and was eventually promoted to Second Lieutenant and sent to fight in France.

He was killed in action on the Western Front in November 1916, mowed down by German gunfire in the mud of the Somme.

The AWM's Nick Fletcher with the Lanser disc on display in the World War I galleries. ( 666 ABC Canberra: Louise Maher )

After Lanser's death, Mr Fletcher said, the sound of his recorded voice would have been, for his loved ones, both a consolation and, at times "a terrible thing to suffer through".

"You would think that as the years passed, particularly for his parents, it must have become a more and more treasured possession," Mr Fletcher said.

"Through his voice we can get so close to [Henry] Miller.

"We feel like we know him because we've heard him speaking.

"To listen to the voice of a man who wasn't yet aware that he was going to become an Anzac, one of the sort of legendary figures of Australian history, is an astonishing thing, I think."