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Follow the Trail: Unbelievable Story Behind This Real Life Message in a Bottle | Time Travels
Apr 4, 2025
Watch as Keith and Ross's incredible story unfolds, revealing the unbelievable journey that led them from Australia to England and the transformational message inside their bottle. This heart-warming true story is a mesmerizing glimpse into the power of self-reflection and the power of following your intuition.
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Less than 100 years ago, there was a message in a bottle
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that was plucked from the ocean off the coast of Australia. But this bottle just didn't wash up on the shore
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It literally fell from the sky. In 1919, this pickle jar was dropped into the Timor Sea to Australia's north
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But not from a boat, but from a plane. A bit like that scene from The Gods Must Be Crazy, only this was no accident
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In the wake of World War I, the race was on to be the first to fly from England to Australia
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Two Aussie brothers, Keith and Ross Smith, along with their mechanics, decided to have a crack
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They chose a Vickers Vimy biplane, a tough-as-old-boots World War I heavy bomber
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To save weight, they left their radio behind, but they did take a camera to record their journey
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It was an epic flight. There were no landing strips, no navigation aids
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They were on their own But the most dangerous stretch of all was the one closest to home the Timor Sea
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Over open ocean, with no landmarks, the boys could go seriously off course and run out of fuel
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So to head off disaster, HMAS Sydney was sent out to show the way
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And it was here that the crew of the Vickers Vimy dropped their message
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And this is the bottle. Now, if I very carefully pick it up, because glass is porous
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you can still have the faint smell of pickles and vinegar, which is extraordinary
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Now, the bottle is wrapped in this string cradle, and attached to this was the parachute, which is quite incredible
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because even though the crew didn't have a parachute, this bottle did
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But more importantly, we need to see the message. It's extraordinary how it starts
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It says, the air, that's their address where they're sending it from
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10th of the 12th, 1919, Vickers Vimy, the commander, HMAS Sydney. Very glad to see you
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Many thanks for looking after us. Going strong. Keith Smith Roth Smith Sergeant Bennett and Sergeant Shears Three hours after this message was parachuted from the plane
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the boys were home, England to Australia, in just under 28 days
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It was a feat to make every Aussie proud. One newspaper of the day claimed
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only one achievement in the history of Australia was as great, the arrival of Captain Cook
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A few years later, the bottle and its message were donated to the State Library of New South Wales by the captain of HMA of Sydney
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And there our story ends. Or so I thought. Something's just happened that's too good to be true
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We were just filming at Sydney Grammar, and while we were packing up, we mentioned to the guy looking after us that we were about to film the Ross and Keith Smith message in a bottle
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You're not going to believe this, but it turns out that this guy is the grandson of the Australian sailor
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who physically plucked the bottle out of the ocean. And what's more, the grandson's never seen it until now
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David, come have a look at this. This is something right out of the library's archives
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and you know exactly what they are. My God I do Yes absolutely Very glad to see you Still going strong Keith Smith Ross Smith Sergeant Bennett and Sergeant Shears That how your grandfather used to tell you
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That's how he told me to virtually the day he died, at the ripe old age of 95
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He used to tell me the story how, as a young 17-year-old
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able seaman, they saw the... Because Vimy circled the ship two or three times
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he could see the pilot lean over the aircraft and drop a message
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He was then tasked with a number of other sailors with fishing this message out of the Timor Sea
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The rogue that he was, he actually stole this message. He nicked the bottle
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He nicked the message and the bottle, kept it overnight because he realised the significance of it
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and conscience got the better of him, so he put it back on the notice board the next morning. So now, after 90-odd years
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and by the sheer coincidence of a random documentary crew making small talk
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the Roach family is reunited with the message in a bottle. This makes me feel simply amazing
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It's truly an honour. Thank you. Thank you very much. Wow. No problem
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Hello, time travellers. Thank you so much for watching this video. If you enjoyed it, leave a comment below
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and don't forget to subscribe to the channel. Until next time, remember, history doesn't repeat, but certainly echoes
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