The story of the man who shipped himself in a box from Britain to Australia to attend his daughter's birthday

At this time in December 1941, Australian athlete Reg Spears, who competed in javelin at the Commonwealth Games in 1962, was born, but he became famous for something other than sports, as he performed a unique work, as he is the man who shipped himself from Britain to Australia in a box.

What is the story of Reg Spears?

Australian athlete Reg Spears found himself stranded in London in the mid-1960s with no money to buy a plane ticket back to his native Australia, and in a desperate attempt to get back in time for his daughter's birthday he decided to put himself in a wooden box.

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"I just got in that thing and went, what am I afraid of? I'm not afraid of the dark so I just sat there," says Spears. "It's no different now that I'm going abroad where I sit on the plane and go."

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Spears' story caused a media storm in Australia at the time.

Spears explains: "I came up with this crazy scheme to come back to Australia in a box. Who can say it won't work? Let's give that scheme a shot."

Spurs had gone to the UK to try to recover from an injury that disrupted his track and field career. A promising javelin thrower, he was on his way to compete in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

But when it became clear that he would not compete in the Tokyo Olympics, Spears decided to raise enough money to return to Australia, and took a job at the airport to earn some money.

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But his plans changed when his wallet containing all his savings was stolen. With his wife and daughter back in Australia, Spears wanted to join them in Adelaide, but "there was one problem: he didn't have any money".

With his daughter's birthday approaching, he was in a hurry.

"I worked in the export shipping department so I knew about the cash-on-delivery issue," Spears said.

Spears also defined the maximum size of a box that could be sent by air freight. He was staying with his friend John McSorley in London, and he persuaded his friend to make a box in which he could send himself home.

"I knew Reg and thought he'd do it whether I helped him or not," McSorley says. "If he's going to do it, I'd better make him a box at least get him there."

The box was designed according to Spears' specifications, as it allowed him to sit upright or lie on his back with his knees bent. So that Spears can hold himself in place while the box is being loaded and lowered.

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To avoid any suspicion of a person inside, the box was labeled as a load of paint and directed to a fake Australian shoe company.

Although the cost of sending such a large shipment was more than the price of a passenger seat on a plane, Spears knew he could charge himself cash on delivery and then only worry about how to pay the fees once he arrived in Australia.

In the box, Spears, along with some canned food, a flashlight, a blanket and a pillow as well as two plastic bottles, one for water and one for urine, was shipped onto an Air India flight to Perth in Western Australia.

Although Spears eventually wanted to reach Adelaide, Perth was chosen because it was a smaller airport.

Spears endured a 24 hour delay at London airport due to fog and began to climb out of the box as soon as the plane was in the air.

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Spears says: "I got out of the box during the flight between London and the French capital, Paris, where I urinated in a box and put it on top of the box, and I was stretching my leg and suddenly, because it is a short distance, the plane began to descend, so I jumped in terror again in the box while the box full of urine was still on it." .

The French baggage handlers in Paris thought the odious contents of the box had been left to them as a heavy joke by their London counterparts.

"They said some terrible things about the English," says Spears, "but they didn't even think of the box so I went on with my journey."

The next stop on the long journey back to Australia was in Bombay, India, where baggage handlers held Spears upside down in the glare of the sun for four hours.

"It was hot in Bombay, it was like hell so I took off all my clothes," Spears said. "It would have been funny if they found me in that condition?"

He added, "I was on the tarmac while they were transferring me from one plane to another, I was tied but my feet were in the air, I was sweating like a pig but I didn't give up. I was patient, and in the end they came and took me and put me on another plane."

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When the plane finally landed in Perth, Australia, the cargo hold was opened and Spears heard the Australian baggage handlers swear and yell at the size of the box they were inside. He knew right away that he was in Australia.

"Accent, how could you miss it? I'm down to earth, amazing, cool," Spears said. "You did it."

He added, "I was grinning from ear to ear, but I wouldn't tell them I'm here now I almost did it, I knew they were going to take the box to the warehouse building, and when they put me in the warehouse I went out immediately, and there were cans of beer and I usually I don't drink, but I took a can of beer and drank it."

Spears survived 3 days of travel in the wooden box, but still faced the challenge of getting out of the airport, but his good luck continued.

Spears said, "There were some tools in the warehouse, so I immediately punched a hole in the wall and got out and there was no security so I put a suit out of my bag so I looked great and then I jumped through a window and out into the street where I found someone to drive me into town, it was very simple. ".

But back in England, John McCorley, who made the box and delivered Spears to the airport, was very worried about his friend.

Spears made his way back to his family in Adelaide, but neglected to tell McSorley that he had made it safely home.

In an attempt to find out what had happened to his friend, McSurley alerted the media to the matter, and Spears soon caused a sensation in his home country.

Spears said: "I received a telegram from a famous Australian politician that read: Brave effort by a true Australian, and that's 5 pounds. That was fantastic."

In the end, the airline did not force him to pay the freight charges. But Spears admits he was surprised by the media coverage of his adventure.

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"I've never seen anything like this before," Spears said. "My mum was so scared with the whole street being closed off by the media, and it went on for weeks."

Spears has made it back in time for his daughter's birthday, but he still has the task of convincing his wife that his story is true.

"At first she didn't believe me," he said, "but then I thought about it, he must have done it, otherwise how did he get here?"

Inspiration

Spears' story inspired a young British man who immigrated to Australia to take the same adventure in the opposite direction and was less fortunate than his Australian counterpart.

19-year-old Brian Robson, who emigrated from Cardiff, Wales, to Australia, did not have the price of a return ticket when he realized his decision to emigrate was wrong as he could not adjust to life in Australia.

Robson and two friends made a box with enough space for himself and his suitcase, and carried a pillow, a lamp, a water bottle, an empty urination bottle, and a small hammer to force open the box once he reached his destination, London.

His two friends sealed the box and shipped it on Qantas Airways from Melbourne to London as a computer sent to the British capital for maintenance.

But their plan failed as the direct flight to London was full, so his box was shipped on Pan American Airlines to Los Angeles and from there to London.

"This trip took about 5 days, the pain was unbearable and I spent 22 hours upside down and couldn't breathe properly and was passing out," Robson said.

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He added that at one point he felt he was going to die and then he wished it would happen quickly.

When the plane reached its destination, it was found by baggage handlers in the United States and believed to be a dead body.

But after it was confirmed that he was alive, he was taken to the hospital, and here the media learned his story.

Pan American International arranged his return to London.

Industry insiders say that something like the Spears or Robson story cannot happen now that cargo is usually well above freezing and all cargo on planes is screened for security reasons which will lead to finding anyone trying to disappear.

What happened to Spears after that?