Forensic Research Archive of Manipulation and Exploitation
Be Ready - The Army Must Finish the Job!, 1939 Canada poster: A close, low-angle drawing of a soldier's gloved fist gripping

Be Ready - The Army Must Finish the Job!

A close, low-angle drawing of a soldier's gloved fist gripping a bayoneted rifle, with helmet and webbing, against a red-and-yellow glare, under the headline 'Be Ready'. The 'transfer' tell is the anonymous gripping fist and kit standing for the whole army, so its determination is attached to whoever reads the caption 'The Army Must Finish the Job!'.

Propaganda techniques used in this poster

Transfer
Date
1939
Period
Second World War
Made by
Department of National Defence, issued by the Director of Public Information, Ottawa; artist Russel Taber
Region
North America
Country
Canada
Medium
Poster
Issuer type
State
Regime
Mackenzie King Government
Leader
William Lyon Mackenzie King
Audience
Domestic public
Purpose
Mobilize or secure compliance
Themes
War and the military, Home front
Event
World War II
Source
Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
Source
U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 44, World War II Foreign Posters, retrieved October 3, 2026
Rights
Public domain (Canadian Crown copyright, expired; published 1939-1945)
Department of National Defence, Canada; artist Russel Taber, c. 1939-1945. Image: US National Archives, NAID 44267505 (44-PF-571).

Text on the object

Original (English) · read from the image, not independently checked

Be Ready

THE ARMY
MUST FINISH THE JOB!

ISSUED FOR THE DEPT. OF NATIONAL DEFENCE BY THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC INFORMATION, OTTAWA.
PRINTED IN CANADA

[signature:] Taber

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