1945 Speech - The Horrible Treatment of Australian and British Soldiers

Analysis of the 1945 speech by Australian Army Staff Sergeant G.G. Rickwood to the Rotary Club of Cessnock in which he narrates his experiences as a POW on the Thai-Burma Railway. Students analyse:
Who gave the speech? What do we know about his background?
Why did he deliver the speech? What was his purpose in giving the speech?
Who was the audience? Where were they located? What was their reaction to the speech?
What words and phrases would we now see as racist or antiquated? How would this language be received in 1945, when the speech was given?
List the incidents that made this speech a “story of hardship and horror, of death, disease, and suffering.”
What values, beliefs and humanitarian acts were displayed by the Australian and British POWs? Is mere survival and kindness enough in situations of extreme abuse?