A man is looking for the people who airmailed him half-way across the world in a crate in 1965.
Brian Robson was 19 at the time and working in Australia, when he and two mates came up with the idea to ship him home to the UK in a wooden crate.
The journey almost killed him and now years later, he's written a book about the misadventure called The Crate Escape, which is due to be released in May 2021.
'The Crate Escape'
In 1964, Robson left his home in Wales and went to Australia on a government immigration programme to work at Victorian Railways. He was contracted to work in Melbourne for two years, but he got very homesick shortly after arriving there.
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His monthly salary was around 30-40 Australian pounds and it would have cost him 700 Australian pounds to fly home, not to mention the cost of repaying any money the government invested in him after breaking his contract.
So, Robson and his two closest work buddies, both from Ireland, devised the plan to ship him home as airmail instead. They bought a wooden crate and plastered it with 'fragile', 'handle with care' and 'this way up' labels.
Robson was sealed into the crate with knees tucked to chest for five days while he waited to land back at Heathrow. He had just a bottle of water, an empty bottle (for the toilet), a suitcase, a pillow, a torch and a hammer to break out if he needed to.
"I was in pain the whole time," he told LADbible. "Most of the time it was a cross between a calm, sort of, couldn't care less... 'just relax and don't care' [feeling], and being terrified."
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"I was having nightmares. I didn't know after the first couple of days whether I was dreaming all this, whether it was real, whether I was going to die.
"It was all in pitch black. I couldn't breathe properly because of no air pressure in the aircraft hold. It was freezing one minute and boiling hot the next minute. It was a complete mixture of emotions," said Robson.
But it turns out, he was put on the wrong plane and he ended up in America, where he gave an airport worker one hell of a shock. At this point, Robson was weak from the journey and was convinced he was going to die.
After the airport worker reported a 'dead body' in one of the crates at the airport, Robson soon found himself surrounded by law enforcement officers from the FBI and CIA.
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"When we first landed, I thought I was back in Heathrow. It wasn't until I heard American voices I thought, 'oh God, I'm in America' and at that, I felt quite despondent," he admitted.
"By that time, I couldn't move, all my muscles had seized up, my joints wouldn't work, I couldn't speak, I couldn't do anything. I just sort of sat there with my knees in my chest like a zombie."
Luckily, law enforcement officers saw the funny side. After concluding that Robson wasn't a threat, they put him on a first-class flight home to the UK.
Life after the 'crate escape'
There were no repercussions for Robson's adventures and he said most people thought he was brave and wanted to hear his story.
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Robson said he eventually 'grew up' and has spent the last fifty years since working in retail management.
Robson's journey caught international media attention at the time. He never revealed the names of his friends for fear of any repercussions.
Now, he's hoping the publishing of his book next month will reunite him with his work buddies, Paul and John.
Will there be a film?
Robson confirmed that a film is in the making. The current working title is 'This Way Up', for obvious reasons.
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In the meantime, Robson is looking for people who might know his friends to get in touch.
Robson said there have been a couple of people make contact so far, but there are three questions only Paul and John would know the answer to. He won't reveal what they are.
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