While hundreds of people strip off at Australia's oldest nudist beach this weekend for the annual Maslin Beach Nude Games, a nude aficionado has said Australia's naked history comes from much more than fleshy frivolity.

Key points: The nude games will be held at Maslin Beach in South Australia

The nude games will be held at Maslin Beach in South Australia Hundreds of nudists will compete in a range of events, including the best bum competition

Hundreds of nudists will compete in a range of events, including the best bum competition A nudist historian says nudism in Australia was influenced by German settlers

Instead, keen nudist historian and editor of Australia's nudist magazine "TAN" Stuart Whelan said Australia's fondness for nude beaches stemmed from war and German settlement.

Australian troops once used nudism to mollify "putrid, humid" conditions in the Pacific, he said.

"During the World War [II] the soldiers often bathed and swam naked," Mr Whelan said.

"A new generation came back with this experience which they wanted to try and emulate here."

Mr Whelan said the affinity with nude swimming was "reinforced by European migration", especially German settlers who saw nudism as more normal.

"During the dark winter months they longed for the opportunity to get their gear off and bathe in the sun and sea," he said.

Maslin Beach is a legal beach for nude bathing in South Australia.

"They brought those ideas and wanted to experience them in their new country and that was the start of the [nudism] movement in Australia."

The large migration of Germans to South Australia likely influenced the creation of some of the country's oldest nudist clubs.

"I'm sure that was one of the things that made the establishment of the earlier clubs a lot easier," Mr Whelan said.

"It was something wanted by the German community."

Like a social club, only everyone is naked

Several nudist clubs popped up in South Australia during the late 40s and 50s, including Tindo Nudist Club in the Barossa Valley which will mark 60 years this May and currently has 150 members.

Members play boules and tennis, swim in the heated pool and dance in the club house.

Treasurer Jenny Davies said it was just like any social club, only everyone was naked.

"It's a social environment and people want to make friends here … we're not swingers, we're not mad, perverted people," she said.

The games include sporting events and a best bum competition. ( Supplied: David Pillar )

"We're just normal people who like to go around our lifestyle without wearing any clothes."

Outside the club, Jenny and her husband Mark are not always in the nude.

"When we do things around the house and in the garden, we will be clothed," she said.

"But there are times where we do like to be nude around the house, particularly when we've got friends over.

"We do try and be nude as much as we can."

Bringing the nudist community together

One place for Australia's nudists to meet up is the Maslin Beach Nude Games.

Maslin Beach in South Australia was declared the country's first clothes-free beach in 1975 and the Nude Games began in the 1980s.

Organiser David Pillar said around 500 people would converge on the beach this Sunday, January 13 for the 2019 event.

"It brings the whole nudist community together," he said.

"We've had people come to South Australia just so they can go to the games."

Events like the three-legged race, donut eating competition and sack race are among the sporting activities.

But the most fiercely contested event is the best bum competition where, as the name suggests, two men and women are crowned owners of the most desirable derriere.