Century-old messages in bottle penned by WWI soldiers washes up on remote Australian beach

Two messages in a bottle written by World War I soldiers more than a century ago washed up on a remote Australian beach, according to a report.

Debra Brown and her daughter Felicity discovered two letters, dating back to 1916, rolled inside a glass bottle in the dunes of Wharton Beach, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported Friday.

Two messages in a bottle written by World War I soldiers over a century ago washed up on a remote Australian beach. Debra Brown

The first letter written in pencil by South Australian soldier Malcolm Alexander Neville to his mother was signed off “somewhere at sea,” the outlet said.

Neville had been aboard the HMAS Ballarat ship, which set sail on Aug. 12 from Adelaide, just three days before he wrote the letter, records showed.

He told his mother that the food at sea was “really good,” except for one meal that was “buried at sea,” without elaborating further.

“[The Ballarat] is Heaving and Balling, but we are happy as Larry. Your loving Son, Malcolm,” the soldier wrote.

He was killed in battle in France in April 1917 when he was 28 years old, the outlet reported.

Brown discovered a second letter written by Private William Kirk Harley after allowing the water-logged papers to dry, the outlet said.

The letter penned by Harley said the soldiers were “somewhere in the Bight.”

He survived the war and went on to have children, according to the report.

Brown found the bottle while picking up garbage on the shore during one of her family’s regular beach clean-up days. Debra Brown

Brown found the bottle while picking up garbage on the shore during one of her family’s regular beach clean-up days, she recalled.

“We’ve filled up ute loads and ute loads over the years out here, so we never go past a piece of rubbish,” she told the outlet.

“We’ve picked up wine bottles from 10 years ago that might have a message in it, or something random,” she said.

She has since been able to connect with Neville’s great-nephew online and Harley’s granddaughters.

Brown plans to mail the letters back to the soldier’s relatives.

“It’s absolutely wonderful,” she said.

“We get to keep the bottle, and Malcolm’s cover letter that was addressed to the finder.”