Messages in a bottle from WWI soldiers found on Australian coast

The notes were thrown overboard just a few days into a voyage to join the battlefields of France more than a century ago.

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The cheerful notes were penned just a few days into their voyage to join the battlefields of France during World War One.

One of the soldiers, Pte Malcolm Neville, told his mother that the food on board was "real good" and that they were "as happy as Larry". Months later, he was killed in action at the age of 28. The other soldier, 37-year-old Pte William Harley, survived the war and returned home.

The letters have been passed on to their descendants, who have been stunned by the discovery.

The bottle was found earlier this month on the remote Wharton Beach, near Esperance in Western Australia, by local resident Deb Brown and her family.