News item: Tobruk rats award own medals
Sometimes a word meant to condemn can become a badge of pride. When German propaganda called the soldiers in Tobruk 'rats', they adopted the name and even made their own 'rat' medals. 'Lord Haw Haw' was William Joyce, an Irish-American who sided with the Nazis and broadcast English-language propaganda. After the war he was tried for treason and hanged.
The Argus 30 Dec 1941, p.3
From the State Library of Victoria's Newspapers collection.