Message in a Bottle: WWI Letters Discovered in Australia

What began as a simple beach cleanup turned into a once-in-a-lifetime historical discovery for an Australian family. While collecting debris along Wharton Beach in Western Australia, Debra Brown and her family stumbled upon a thick glass bottle sealed with a small cork.

Inside were two perfectly preserved letters written in August 1916 by Australian soldiers Malcolm Alexander Neville and William Kirk Harley during World War I. Neville, who later died in France, had written to his mother, while Harley eventually made it home.

The family’s discovery, more than a century after the letters were cast into the sea, captivated historians and locals alike. After identifying the authors, Brown tracked down both soldiers’ descendants and returned the letters, describing the experience as “a reward for years of cleaning beaches.”

The letters offer a tangible connection between generations, a story of loss and survival carried across time and tide.