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A BENDIGO man has come forward claiming to be the descendant of the couple at the centre of the century-old love Anzac love story.
Barry Denny's mother Jean Paul was the niece of William Paul, the solider who wrote a letter placed it in a bottle and threw it in the ocean, with the hope it would find its way to his sweetheart, Annie Bird.
Mr Denny said it was amazing to discover a unique part of his family history.
“You hear these things happening to other people, not to our family,” he said.
“When we were little kids I remember calling them Uncle Bill and Aunty Birdie, who is the lady in the letter.”
Mr Denny said he and his wife Robbyne had been compiling their family tree when they came across the Bendigo Advertiser story about the pair.
He said after last week’s story revealing Annie’s parents Solomon and Emily Jane Paul were buried at the Bendigo cemetery.
“We know they have been buried in the cemetery up here and it took as a while to find it but we eventually found the grave,” Mr Denny said.
“It is a beautiful story.”
