• Two letters from Australian soldiers found in a bottle on Wharton Beach, dated August 15, 1916.
• The letters detail life aboard the troopship HMAT A70 Ballarat during their journey to the Western Front.
• The discovery was made by the Brown family while cleaning the beach on October 9, 2023.
• The soldiers' fates were different; Malcolm Neville was killed in battle, while William Harley survived the war.
• Relatives of the soldiers expressed feelings of connection and surprise at finding the messages.

On October 9, 2023, the Brown family discovered a glass bottle containing letters written by two Australian soldiers, Privates Malcolm Neville and William Harley, on Wharton Beach near Esperance, Australia. The handwritten notes were penned a few days into their voyage to the battlefields of France during World War I, and are dated August 15, 1916, highlighting the soldiers' optimism as they headed to join the war effort. The find converted a routine beach cleaning into an extraordinary link to the past, according to BBC, CBS News, South China Morning Post, and India Times.

The bottle contained letters expressing a light-hearted spirit, with Neville writing to his mother about the enjoyable food during their journey, exclaiming, "we are as happy as Larry," while Harley, whose mother had passed away by then, wrote that the finder could keep his note. According to reports, they were writing from the troopship HMAT A70 Ballarat, which had left Adelaide just three days prior, and were excited about the adventure ahead, unaware of the grim realities that awaited them in the war, as detailed by BBC, CBS News, South China Morning Post, and India Times.

The bottle, discovered while the Brown family was performing their routine beach clean-up, is believed to have spent much of the last century buried in sand dunes, likely due to recent coastal erosion. Deb Brown, who opened the bottle, described finding it as surreal and emphasized the remarkable condition of the letters, which remained legible despite having been wet. "It doesn’t have any growth of any barnacles on it," she stated, adding that if it had been at sea for that long, the paper would have disintegrated, according to BBC, CBS News, South China Morning Post, and India Times.

Relatives of the soldiers expressed profound emotions upon learning about the messages. Herbie Neville, a great-nephew of Malcolm Neville, highlighted how the discovery brought the family together, noting that while it was "sad" that Neville lost his life in wartime, his words reflected a vibrant spirit. Harley's granddaughter Ann Turner shared similar sentiments, calling the find "a miracle" and feeling as if her grandfather "has reached out for us from the grave." This connection across generations showcases the enduring legacy of those who served, as reported by BBC, CBS News, South China Morning Post, and India Times.