Forensic Research Archive of Manipulation and Exploitation
Whatever your job may be: fight, 1940 Canada poster: A helmeted soldier with a rifle, in grey on red, is overlapped

Whatever your job may be: fight

A helmeted soldier with a rifle, in grey on red, is overlapped by a civilian worker in profile who grips a sledgehammer, with the line 'Whatever your job may be' above the single word 'FIGHT'. Putting the worker's face and tool in the soldier's frame lends the soldier's standing to civilian work (transfer).

Propaganda techniques used in this poster

Transfer
Date
1940
Period
Second World War
Made by
Director of Public Information, Ottawa, under authority of the Minister of National War Services; artist Eric Aldwinckle
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
Labor, 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, 50 years from publication, expired; no URAA restoration)
Director of Public Information, Department of National War Services, Ottawa, Canada, 1940-1945; artist Eric Aldwinckle. U.S. National Archives, Record Group 44.

Text on the object

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

WHATEVER YOUR JOB MAY BE
FIGHT

PRINTED IN CANADA
ISSUED BY THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC INFORMATION, OTTAWA, UNDER AUTHORITY OF THE MINISTER OF NATIONAL WAR SERVICES
1E-3

[signature in the artwork:] Aldwinckle

More propaganda examples that use the same techniques

Fragments of the Abydos king list from Ramesses II's temple, in the British Museum: rows of royal cartouchesNew Kingdom EgyptFragments of the Abydos king list from Ramesses II's temple, in the British Museum: rows of royal cartouches0000 · Card stacking, TransferClay cylinder with the Ehulhul inscription of Nabonidus, king of Babylon, describing work on three templesNeo Babylonian EmpireClay cylinder with the Ehulhul inscription of Nabonidus, king of Babylon, describing work on three temples0000 · TransferSeated limestone statue of Hatshepsut as king, with feminine royal titles on the throne, reassembled from fragments broken up at Deir el-BahriNew Kingdom EgyptSeated limestone statue of Hatshepsut as king, with feminine royal titles on the throne, reassembled from fragments broken up at Deir el-Bahri0000 · Transfer, TestimonialGlazed-brick panel with a striding lion, from Babylon (reign of Nebuchadnezzar II)Neo Babylonian EmpireGlazed-brick panel with a striding lion, from Babylon (reign of Nebuchadnezzar II)0000 · TransferLimestone relief block of Ramesses II wearing the White Crown, a jubilee relief from his temple at HerakleopolisNew Kingdom EgyptLimestone relief block of Ramesses II wearing the White Crown, a jubilee relief from his temple at Herakleopolis0000 · TransferLine drawing of the Great Kadesh battle relief on the walls of the Ramesseum, from Breasted's History of EgyptNew Kingdom EgyptLine drawing of the Great Kadesh battle relief on the walls of the Ramesseum, from Breasted's History of Egypt0000 · Card stacking, TransferContent noteGypsum alabaster slab inscribed in cuneiform, from Nimrud (Kalhu), reign of Ashurnasirpal IINeo Assyrian EmpireGypsum alabaster slab inscribed in cuneiform, from Nimrud (Kalhu), reign of Ashurnasirpal II0000 · Transfer, Glittering generalitiesEgyptian alabaster jar inscribed with the name of Xerxes the Great in four languages (Old Persian, Elamite, Babylonian, Egyptian), 486 to 466 BCEAchaemenid EmpireEgyptian alabaster jar inscribed with the name of Xerxes the Great in four languages (Old Persian, Elamite, Babylonian, Egyptian), 486 to 466 BCE0000 · Transfer