More than a century after they were written, messages in a Schweppes bottle from Australian WWI privates Malcolm Neville, 27, and William Harley, 37, were found on Oct. 9 at Wharton Beach near Esperance, Western Australia. Discovered by Deb Brown’s family during a beach clean-up, the pencil letters, dated Aug. 15, 1916 from troop ship HMAT A70 Ballarat, remained legible. Brown believes erosion freed the bottle from sand dunes. Relatives were traced; Harley’s granddaughter called the discovery “a miracle.” Neville later died in action; Harley survived the war but died in 1934.

Prepared by Emily Rhodes and reviewed by editorial team.