--- title: We're Ganging-up on the U-Boats url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/canada-were-ganging-up-on-the-u-boats-1943/ description: Photographs of the Toronto shipyard and a finished escort vessel surround a typed letter from yard workers to 'the men of the Merchant Service'. section: Collection --- 1. [Home](https://propagandaarchive.org/) 2. [Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/) 3. We're Ganging-up on the U-Boats [![We're Ganging-up on the U-Boats, 1943 Canada poster: Photographs of the Toronto shipyard and a finished escort vessel](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/canada-were-ganging-up-on-the-u-boats-1943.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/canada-were-ganging-up-on-the-u-boats-1943.jpg) # We're Ganging-up on the U-Boats Photographs of the Toronto shipyard and a finished escort vessel surround a typed letter from yard workers to 'the men of the Merchant Service', signed by named tradesmen. The tell is the borrowed voice of identified ordinary workers addressing the sailors directly, with a postscript that some of the ships are already at sea. ## Propaganda techniques used in this poster [Testimonial](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/testimonial/) [Plain folks](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/plain-folks/) ## Text on the object Original (English) · read from the image, not independently checked ``` We're ganging-up on the U-Boats Toronto Shipbuilding Company Limited 445 FLEET STREET WEST TORONTO — CANADA ELGIN 4421 PLEASE MARK YOUR REPLY ATTENTION: June 1st, 1943. TO THE MEN OF THE MERCHANT SERVICE: Our job is to build escort vessels for you men of the Merchant Service. We've turned out lots of them already and you'll see our ships in almost every part of the world. We're told that they're smart fighting ships. We thought that these pictures would let you know that we're backing you up in the tough job you're doing in the Merchant Service. Night and day - winter and summer - the work goes on in our yards, turning out escort vessels that can fairly scoop up the subs. Very soon a whole new batch of them will be sailing with you and we know you'll like them. We're just one of many naval shipyards in Canada, but this is a fair sample of the job of backing up the grand work of the Merchant Service. Good luck to you all. Yours sincerely, YARD COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVES. [handwritten signatures with trades:] George D. Ward, Secty., Electrician; J. A. Kennedy, President, Electrician; W. Dawson, Vice-Pres., Pipe-fitter; T. J. O'Brien, Pipe-fitter; [illegible] Hale, Ship Finisher; [illegible] Mason, Sheet Metal Worker; Charles Macdonald, Painter; Sam Lawrie, Painter; L. F. Bertrand, Hoisting Engineer; Andrew Hartman, Sheet Metal Worker P.S. BY THE TIME YOU READ THIS SOME OF THESE FIGHTING SHIPS WILL BE AT SEA This message is issued by the Department of Munitions and Supply for Canada ``` [← "We're Counting on You!" (letter from Flying Officer Alan Bell, R.C.A.F., to war-plant workers)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/canada-were-counting-on-you-bell-1943/) ['You Build 'Em We'll Fight 'Em, Says Weyburn Officer' (Canadian Department of Munitions and Supply) →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/canada-you-build-em-well-fight-em-weyburn-1943/) ## More propaganda examples that use the same techniques - [Behistun (Bisotun) rock relief and trilingual inscription of Darius I: the king, two attendants and the bound rebel leaders beneath the winged figure of Ahuramazda](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/behistun-relief-darius-and-rebels-521bce/) (Achaemenid Empire · 0000 · Card stacking, Name-calling, Testimonial). Content note: Shows bound captives before the king, and the inscription records the mutilation and public execution of rebel leaders, as the king's own account. - [Tomb of Darius I at Naqsh-e Rustam: the king in relief beside his inscription DNa, c. 490 BCE](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/dna-inscription-darius-i-naqsh-e-rustam-490bce/) (Achaemenid Empire · 0000 · Testimonial, Card stacking) - [Seated limestone statue of Hatshepsut as king, with feminine royal titles on the throne, reassembled from fragments broken up at Deir el-Bahri](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/hatshepsut-seated-statue-limestone-met-1458bce/) (New Kingdom Egypt · 0000 · Transfer, Testimonial) - [Bronze sestertius of Gaius (Caligula), reverse S P Q R P P OB CIVES SERVATOS in an oak wreath](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/sestertius-caligula-ob-cives-servatos-0037/) (Roman Empire · 0037 · Testimonial, Transfer) - [Bronze sestertius of Trajan, reverse S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI, S C, the emperor on horseback riding down an enemy](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/sestertius-trajan-optimo-principi-0103/) (Roman Empire · 0103 · Testimonial, Glittering generalities) - [Seljuq gold dinar of Sanjar, dated 493 AH, with the Abbasid caliph named on one face](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/seljuq-gold-dinar-sanjar-caliph-name-1099/) (Great Seljuk Empire · 1099 · Testimonial) - [Estoire d'Eracles page with Bernard of Clairvaux preaching the Second Crusade in the initial (Walters W.137, fol. 180v)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/eracles-bernard-preaching-second-crusade-w137-1275/) (France · 1275 · Testimonial) - [Opening page of the Estoire d'Eracles (William of Tyre in French), with the Crucifixion and Pope Urban II preaching the First Crusade in the initial (Walters W.137, fol. 1r)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/eracles-urban-ii-preaching-first-crusade-w137-1275/) (France · 1275 · Testimonial, Transfer)