A message in a bottle from a World War I soldier has been found on a remote beach in Western Australia. The bottle, discovered on Wharton Beach near Esperance, dates back to 1916. A family was cleaning up the beach when they stumbled upon the rare find last week.

The letter, written by South Australian soldier Malcolm Alexander Neville, is addressed to his mother. It is signed "somewhere at sea August 15th 1916," as he was en route to Europe. The Australian War Memorial records that Mr. Neville was aboard HMAS Ballarat, which left Adelaide on August 12, just days before he wrote the letter. He was killed in battle in France in April 1917 at the age of 28.

In the letter, Mr. Neville mentions that the food on the ship has been "really good," except for one meal that was "buried at sea." He describes the troop ship Ballarat as "heaving and balling" but reassures his mother that they are "happy as Larry. Your loving Son, Malcolm."

Debra Brown, a local resident, shared that her daughter Felicity found the bottle during one of their regular beach clean-ups. Ms. Brown believes the bottle was likely exposed due to erosion from recent winter storms. "We've filled up ute loads and ute loads over the years out here, so we never go past a piece of rubbish," she said.

Initially, the family did not expect to read the letter because there was water inside the bottle. However, after allowing it to dry for a few days, Ms. Brown was able to retrieve the letter using surgical scissors. "We thought, 'Oh wow, this is wonderful,' so we jumped on the computer and onto the Australian War Memorial and found all of his history," she said.

Through her research, Ms. Brown learned about Mr. Neville, who hailed from Wilkawatt, a small town in South Australia. After searching for "Neville" and "Wilkawatt," she connected with a great-nephew of Mr. Neville on Facebook. "He's told every Neville in Australia, and I've had phone calls from all over," she noted.

In addition to Mr. Neville's letter, Ms. Brown also found a second letter from Private William Kirk Harley, who wrote that they were "somewhere in the Bight." Pte Harley survived the war and later had children. Ms. Brown has since reached out to his granddaughters and plans to return the letters to both families.

"It's absolutely wonderful," she said. "We get to keep the bottle, and Malcolm's cover letter that was addressed to the finder." In 2018, a message in a bottle believed to be the oldest known, dating back to 1886, was also found near Esperance.