One end of double ended paddle reputedly from Oskar Speck's kayak

Subject or historical figure Oskar Speck (1907 - 1993)

Date1930s

Object number00040183

NamePaddle

MediumMetal, wood

ClassificationsVessels and fittings

Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from John Ferguson

Terms

DescriptionOne end of double ended paddle reputedly from Oskar Speck's kayak. German adventurer-voyager-migrant Oskar Speck and his 50,000-kilometre odyssey, paddling a kayak to Australia in the 1930s. The voyage would take an unprecedented seven years and four months before Speck reached his final destination.HistoryOskar Speck was born in 1907 and grew up at a time when the world was in turmoil and transition. His childhood and adolescence in Hamburg were shaped by the First World War and the economic and social changes resulting from Germany's defeat. Speck was a keen competitive kayaker before 1932 and a member of a boating club. Canoeing and kayaking were popular summer pastimes in Europe and Weimar Germany in the 1920s and 1930s. Collapsible kayaks (faltboot) could be easily carried on public transport to be reassembled for use on rivers and waterways. Speck owned his own folding kayak Sunnschien. This outdoor spirit reflected a Germanic passion for athleticism and physical prowess - qualities reinforced in youth clubs and associations. In 1932, during the Depression, Speck's business closed and he found himself unemployed along with millions of other Germans. 'The times in Germany were very catastrophic…all I wanted was to get out of Germany for a while' Speck has said in an interview recorded by Margot Cuthill for Australia's SBS TV in 1987. 'I had no idea that I would eventually end up in Australia…but I took my collapsible boat, went to Ulm and then down the Danube to the Yugoslavian border…leaving Germany and seeing the world seemed like a better option.' Speck converted a double kayak into a single which allowed room for luggage and provisions. Its light, flexible wooden frame made it safe for shooting rapids, light for porterage and could be collapsed into a small bundle when necessary. It was constructed from a laminated rubber and canvas skin over the frame and was 5.49 m in length, capable of carrying a load of nearly 300 kg. It was steered by a foot-controlled rudder and propelled by a double-ended paddle. It was equipped with a small gaff sail with an area of 1.49 square metres. Speck's luggage consisted of a spare paddle, two brass waterproof containers for his films, cameras, clothing, documents, coastal pilots, passports, charts and prismatic compass, and pistol. Fresh water was contained in five-gallon tanks shaped to the side of the kayak . With a small amount of money, some raised by his family, the 25-year-old Speck set off on a bus from Hamburg to Ulm on the Danube River. This modern-day odyssey began on 13 May 1932 as a river journey along the still waters of the Danube and would take him first to the Mediterranean coast. Speck was kept in touch with political events in Germany through letters from family and friends. To cross the Mediterranean, Speck had to master sailing and paddling during voyages between Greek islands. This involved greater reliance on steering with a foot operated rudder and use of a sail. 'by all sane standards I was mad … Faltboots are not built for the sea… you may sail while the weather is kind , but you must be constantly active, constantly steering to bring the boat's bow to the right position to meet every single wave' .(Oskar Speck in interview with Duncan Thompson Australasian Post, December 6 1956). While Speck described his kayak as 'a first class ticket to everywhere' the reality of travelling in such a small craft was that he had to paddle close to coastline wherever possible. On shore he slept in the kayak after removing the tanks from the bow and stern to make more room. A makeshift canvas canopy provided shelter from the sun. On the open sea there was no chance to sleep. To do so would risk capsizing or worse. Speck described paddling a kayak on the open sea like riding a bicycle on the land 'you must keep pedaling and steering or you fall over…in a faltboot you must be constantly steering to bring the boat's bow to the right position to meet every single wave.' During the voyage Speck capsized a number of times when surfing into shore. The fact he survived such a perilous voyage is all the more remarkable given that Speck could not swim. He strapped himself into his kayak. In Daru (New Guinea) Speck learned from fishermen that Australia was at war with Germany. His arrival on Thursday Island saw him arrested as an enemy alien. The surprising arrival of Speck and camera in wartime raised questions about his activities in the region, why and for whom he was making a film and whether he was acting as an agent for the Germans. Police were suspicious of the contents of Speck's film footage and after spending a month on Thursday Island he was transferred by the RAN to Brisbane. From Queensland he was sent to Tatura Internment Camp in the Goulburn Valley of Victoria. On the 9 January 1943 Speck escaped from the camp and was on the run for several weeks until stopped by police in Melbourne. His punishment was 28 days in solitary confinement and a transfer to Loveday, South Australia, where he remained for the rest of the war. While interned at Loveday Speck revealed his political views in a letter to the Swiss Consul in Melbourne, Mr J A Pietzcker: 'This camp is not suited for the internment of Germans who are loyal to the Reich as they have no means at all of expressing their patriotism eg. Patriotic celebrations etc. I therefore urgently request you approach the responsible authority in order to have me transferred into a German National Socialist Camp.' Was Speck a Nazi? This picture is at odds with the views of those who knew him after his release from internment. An acquaintance later described him as a loner who was avoiding returning to Germany as the Reich wanted to exploit his achievements as an example of German heroism, during their Russian campaign. In 1938 Speck's adventure had been serialised in a Berlin newspaper, casting him in the role of courageous hero. Photographs show a swastika pennant prominently displayed on the bow of his kayak. An Australian life Four days after his release from Loveday Internment camp, Speck was in Lightning Ridge, NSW, mining opal. He settled into postwar Australia and established a successful opal cutting business. He built his own home on the side of a hill at Killcare Heights on the NSW Central coast and retired there in the 1970s. For 30 years Speck's companion Nancy Steele commuted from Sydney to Killcare each weekend to see him. She lived with him during the last two years of his life. Speck died in 1995 after a long illness. SignificanceOscar Speck's voyage to Australia through a colonial world epitomized an age of wanderlust. Yet for Speck this voyage was more than just adventure. It was the beginning of a new life far from his homeland.