Australia. Letter from the bottle after 109 years

In August 1916, 2 young Australians, Malcolm Alexander Neville and William Harley, set off from Adelaide to Europe aboard a transport ship HMAT Ballaratto fight in planet War I. There was inactive excitement. Soldiers sang, joked, stared at the waves, not knowing what was ahead. Somewhere in the waters of the large Gulf of Australia, they threw a corked bottle of news into the sea. Malcolm wrote to his parent in Wilkawatt: – I'm having a truly good time. The food is very good, but for 1 meal we threw in the water. The letter ended with wordsYour loving son. Somewhere at sea.

Neville was a farmer. Low growth and mediocre eyesight long prevented him from enlisting in the army, but he did not give up. erstwhile he was yet admitted, he received training and went to the front. He died 3 days after his 28th birthday, April 11, 1917, during the attack at Bullecourt. On that day, Australian soldiers attacked the German Hindenburg line without shielding artillery and tanks that did not arrive in time. The attack ended with a massacre – over 3,000 prisoners, wounded and victims, including Malcolm. He was buried in France, at the London Cemetery and Extension Cemetery in Longueval. For decades there was nothing left of him but a name on the list of dead. Until now.

After 109 years, after strong storms, the sea revealed a part of glass buried in the sand. While cleaning Debra Brown beach, she noticed a corked bottle with something inside. She didn't think it might be a letter that holds a message torn from the bottom of time, fragile as memory, but strong as blood. After careful extraction of the contents, her loved ones came across a calligraphic whisper centuries ago. The paper was amazingly well preserved. Debra started her own investigation and found a war museum across Australia Herbie NevilleMalcolm's relative. – It's like time travel. – he said erstwhile he heard about the find.

There was a second letter in the same bottle, by William Harley. He survived the war, though his grandchildren never met him. His message went to his granddaughter. Michele Pattersonwho admitted that this letter was almost like talking to her grandfather. A unusual coincidence the same week, William's 14-year-old great-grandson wrote home from a sailing camp. 2 letters, for 2 generations, separated by a century. 1 locked in a bottle, the another brought in an envelope. Both sent from the heart, both made it home.

Inspired by this discovery, families of soldiers began to reconstruct their household stories. Thanks to the address from Harley's letter, it was possible to undo until 1881, erstwhile his ancestors arrived in Australia. – It was like uncovering a lead from a treasure map – commented Michele. The letters are fragile, so they are being maintained and secured. – We will always be grateful to the Brown household due to the fact that they gave us something priceless – She summarized. Bryce Abraham, curator of the Australian War Museum, confirms that news in bottles are rare: – Most of them sank or fell apart. These 2 writings are a miracle. And present they are where they should be – in the hands of their descendants.