Speaking of Sacrifice
A black silhouette of a rifle-and-bayonet soldier looms over a newspaper page of Canadian Army casualty lists from Dieppe, while caricatured civilians below complain of taxes, wages, profits, gas and tires. The complainers are drawn as small and grotesque (name-calling by caricature), and the casualty names lend their weight to the demand for acceptance of home-front costs (transfer).
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1942
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- Department of Munitions and Supply for Canada; cartoon by John Collins (Montreal Gazette, 26 August 1942)
- 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
- Home front, Economy and finance
- 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)
Department of Munitions and Supply for Canada; cartoon by John Collins, 1942. National Archives and Records Administration, NAID 44267799.
Text on the object
LISTS OF CANADIAN ARMY CASUALTIES [...]ND ON DIEPPE MY TAXES ARE AWFUL AND WAGES ARE TOO LOW THERE'S NO PROFIT ANY MORE AND GAS AN' TIRES!! Speaking of Sacrifice This message is issued by the Department of Munitions and Supply for Canada. CARTOON BY JOHN COLLINS WHICH APPEARED ON THE FRONT PAGE OF THE MONTREAL GAZETTE ON AUGUST 26th, 1942 [the casualty-list newspaper columns behind the figures are not transcribed; signature:] JOHN COLLINS
