In a surprising twist, two messages sealed in a bottle by Australian soldiers during World War I have been found on the country’s southwestern coast.
The notes, written in 1916, were discovered earlier this month on Wharton Beach near Esperance, Western Australia, by Deb Brown and her family while cleaning litter during one of their regular beach trips.
According to Brown, the glass bottle caught her daughter’s eye in the sand. “We always pick up rubbish when we visit the beach,” she told the Associated Press. “This small bottle was just lying there, waiting to be found.”
Inside were letters penned by Private Malcolm Neville, aged 28, and Private William Harley, aged 37, just a few days after they had set sail for France to fight in the First World War.
In his cheerful note, Pte Neville wrote to his mother about life aboard the ship, describing the food as “real good” and saying they were “as happy as Larry.” Sadly, he was killed in action just months later. Pte Harley, however, survived the war and eventually returned home.
Though the paper inside was damp, both letters were still readable. Deb Brown decided to trace the soldiers’ families to return the century-old notes. She managed to locate Herbie Neville, Malcolm’s great-nephew, using the soldier’s name and hometown mentioned in the letter.
Herbie described the discovery as “unbelievable,” saying it brought his family closer to their ancestor, whose bravery they had heard about through generations.
The second letter, written by Pte Harley, was addressed simply “to the finder of this bottle,” as his mother had passed away long before he left for war. His granddaughter, Ann Turner, said the family was deeply moved by the find. “It feels like our grandfather has reached out to us from the past,” she said.
