<
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08-06/oskar-speck-world-wars-kayak-gemany-australia-loveday-/105558846>
"When German Oskar Speck came ashore on tiny Saibai Island in the Torres
Strait, he was greeted by three Australian policemen and the cold shock of
arrest.
It was September 1939, and the kayaker had just spent seven years paddling from
Germany to Australia, an astonishing 50,000-kilometre journey down rivers and
across oceans in his collapsible kayak.
But instead of receiving a hero's welcome, he was arrested and sent to
Victoria, where he was interned at a wartime camp in Tatura.
The world had changed since Speck had begun his voyage in 1932. Just three
weeks before his arrival, his country, led by Adolf Hitler, had invaded Poland
and was now at war with France and Britain.
But why did Speck spend years navigating long stretches of rough ocean water on
a kayak made for leisurely river paddling? And what happened to him after he
was arrested?"
Via Clarice Boomshakala Bouvier.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
