Messages in a bottle found after 100 years

Here in the UK it is Remembrance Sunday tomorrow, so I thought it a good moment to post this rather amazing story ...

Messages in a bottle found after 100 years

photo credit - Deb Brown

"Letters written by two Australian soldiers more than one hundred years ago have been found on a beach on the country's south-west coast.

They were rolled up inside a bottle which had been thrown into the sea as the pair sailed to France to help during the First World War.

The cheerful notes were written in pencil and were dated August 1916.

The letters have now been passed onto to the relatives of the two soldiers, who were "stunned" by their discovery.

photo credit - Deb Brown

The messages were written by two soldiers - Private Malcolm Neville and Private William Harley.

According to Private Harley's letter, the bottle was thrown overboard "somewhere in the Bight", which refers to the Great Australian Bight - a large open bay off the country's southern coast.

The bottle was found earlier this month by a local family on a remote beach, near the town of Esperance in Western Australia.

They were clearing litter from the beach when they spotted a thick glass bottle in the sand.

Though the paper was wet, both letters were still readable, so the family began looking for the soldiers' families in order to pass them on.

When both soldiers' families were located, the notes came as a real surprise.

Private Neville's great-nephew told ABC News the experience had been "unbelievable."

While Private Harley's granddaughter said that she and her family were "absolutely stunned" by the message.

Experts think the bottle may only have been in the water for a few weeks before it landed on the beach, where it may have remained buried for 100 years."
Story and images from here

What an amazing find ...

All the best Jan