WW1 Soldier's message in a bottle washes up on Australian shores
A letter, written over 100 years ago, by an Australian soldier, is finally making its way back to his family
A message in a bottle, written by an Australian soldier, on his way to fight in Europe in 1916, has made its way back to his family, over 100 years later.
Tom Neville, and his dad Herbie, who both live in Alice Springs, in the centre of Australia, were contacted last week, by a woman living in Esperance, several hours away in Western Australia.
She told them how, during her walks along the beach, she had come across a bottle washed up on the shore, containing a letter.
The letter was written by a Malcolm Neville, on board a boat taking troops from Australia to Europe during World War One, and had been dropped overboard.
The letter, addressed to Malcolm's mother, tells her how he is having a "real good time" and the food was also "real good, with the exception of 1 meal, which they buried at sea."
Malcolm died in Europe, in 1917, and left no children behind - but the woman had managed to trace his family line down to his Great-nephew, Tom's father.
Tom tells us he's delighted:
"She started explaining the story, and it just felt like I'd won...
"The chances are so slim of this happening - as slim as a lottery win!
"So I actually felt like I had won the lottery, or the family had won the lottery."
Tom tells us that before now, he wasn't aware of the story of his Great-Great Uncle;
"It's my dad's grandfather's brother - so my dad would have had a relationship with his grandfather in the 60's and 70's … but kids don't really care about war.
"The other thing, Dad's grandfather may not have wanted to talk about his brother who passed away at war.
"The story would have got lost in the 60's and 70's, when my Great-Grandfather passed away,
"He made it to I think 1974, that's where the story would have got lost.
Tom sent us this screenshot, from the War Memorial Australia website, showing more information about Malcolm;
Now, his dad is making plans to travel over to Esperance to collect the letter - a drive which will take more than a day to complete,
"He'll probably collect it - seal it, in special plastic - and then take it to family in South Australia,
"There would be a good 50-70 people who would like to see it."