Letters written by two World War I soldiers have been returned to their families after being discovered in a bottle on a remote beach in Western Australia. The letters, penned by Private Malcolm Neville and Private William Harley, were tossed overboard from His Majesty's Australian Transport Ballarat during its journey to Europe in 1916. Private Harley's letter indicated that the men were "somewhere in the Bight."

The Brown family found the bottle on Wharton Beach near Esperance and used social media to locate the soldiers' descendants. They sent the letters to the families in Adelaide and Alice Springs. Michele Patterson, Private Harley's granddaughter, expressed her family's astonishment, stating that each of his five surviving grandchildren views the letters as a "miracle." She added, "William was the one person of all of our ancestors that I know about, that I really, really always wanted to meet. This, for me, is very close to being able to meet him."

The timing of the discovery has been described as "serendipitous." Before and after the war, Private Harley worked as a pattern-maker for a family-owned foundry, creating designs for decorative cast-iron pieces seen on buildings across Adelaide. Patterson has been searching for the original cast from the Harley catalogue to replace a fountain base in her garden for decades. She noted, "I hadn't found anything for 40 years. I found it within a few days after the letter arrived, so if that's not magical, I don't know what is."

Coincidentally, Private Harley's 14-year-old great-great-grandson was on a technology-free school camp sailing in the Great Australian Bight, where students were encouraged to write letters home. Patterson remarked, "The result of this is my older brother, one of William's surviving grandchildren, received two letters from somewhere in the Bight in the same week: one from his grandson and one from his deceased grandfather, written 109 years apart."

In June, Patterson and her cousins began compiling the Harley family history. A previously unknown address in the letter helped them trace their lineage back to their arrival in Australia in 1881. "This literally has been like finding the clue in a treasure map for us to be able to piece together the Harley family history," she said.

Now that the letter from Private Harley has been returned, the family is considering how to preserve it. Patterson described the letter as "so brittle" and emphasized the need to find the right home for it for future generations. She expressed gratitude to the Brown family for their care in returning such an important piece of history.

Herbie Neville, Private Neville's great-nephew, shared that his family has been "beside themselves" since the letter's discovery. He is the recipient of the other letter found in the bottle and remarked, "It's amazing how much has come to the surface from his short time in World War I, unbelievable."

Private Harley left for war in August 1916 to join his older brother Henry, who was already in Europe. Tragically, Henry was killed in action just days after Private Harley departed Adelaide. Patterson noted that in the letter, the men were in good spirits, reassuring their families that they hoped to return soon. "It's very sad that he didn't know about that," she said.

After the war, Private Harley returned to Australia, had children, and eventually died from injuries sustained during the conflict. His son, Harry, also fought in World War II but was killed in action. Patterson reflected on the impact of the wars on her family, stating, "It's often difficult to remember that that generation, my parents, were sandwiched between the two World Wars and they knew nothing different."

Bryce Abraham, a curator at the Australian War Memorial, noted that by 1916, the extent of casualties at Gallipoli was well known. Despite this, war was still seen as an "idealised adventure." He explained that many men wrote letters and diaries to pass the time during the long journey to Europe. However, only three "messages in a bottle" are in the museum's collection. Abraham speculated that most bottles either broke, sank, or remain buried in sand dunes, making such discoveries rare. He added, "It seems to me almost a thing of the times, as well, that as part of that great adventure, it was like a fun thing to do in secret, you know, toss a bottle over the side."