Forensic Research Archive of Manipulation and Exploitation
The Fight in the Air - Czechoslovakia, 1939 Czechoslovakia leaflet: Page 17 of an illustrated pamphlet

The Fight in the Air - Czechoslovakia

Page 17 of an illustrated pamphlet: photographs of a Czechoslovak airman beside a propeller, a bomb chalked 'ZA LIDICE', airmen under a wing and a pilot signing autographs for schoolboys, with text on Czechoslovak air service. The tell is selection: kill and bomb-tonnage claims ('138', 'at least 37', 'hundreds', 'thousands of tons') appear with no losses or sources, and the closing line frames the airmen as destroying 'the Nazis'.

Propaganda techniques used in this leaflet

Card stackingGlittering generalities
Date
1939
Period
Second World War
Made by
Issuer not stated; no imprint visible on this page of a Czechoslovakia-themed illustrated pamphlet (page number printed)
Region
Eastern Europe and Eurasia
Country
Czechoslovakia
Medium
Leaflet
Issuer type
State
Regime
Czechoslovak Government in Exile
Leader
Edvard Benes
Audience
Foreign public
Purpose
Recruit
Theme
War and the military
Event
World War II
Source
Unidentified Source blurred: contractors, cutouts, buried disclosure
Source
U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 44, World War II Foreign Posters, retrieved October 3, 2026
Rights
Held by NARA, Unrestricted; hosted by owner decision
Issuer not stated. National Archives and Records Administration, 44-PF-774.

Text on the object

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

THE FIGHT IN THE AIR

ZA LIDICE [on bomb]

The Czechoslovak pilots fought successfully in France bringing down 138 enemy machines.

After the French collapse they escaped to England to continue the struggle. After a short period of re-forming they took part in the Battle of Britain in which they destroyed at least 37 German aircraft. Czechoslovak Fighters operating from Britain have destroyed hundreds of enemy aircraft; many more were probably destroyed or damaged. The Czechoslovak pilots of Bomber Command have made countless flights over Germany; attacking enemy targets and dropping thousands of tons of bombs.

During the past two years Czechoslovak airmen have also taken part in the R.A.F.'s onslaught on the Nazi U-boats. Wherever there are Allied air operations Czechoslovak pilots play their part in destroying the Nazis.

1. Kuttelwascher — Czechoslovak ace nightfighter known to countless admiring schoolboys as 'Kuttel.'

17

[Translation of bomb inscription: 'For Lidice']

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, TransferBehistun (Bisotun) rock relief and trilingual inscription of Darius I: the king, two attendants and the bound rebel leaders beneath the winged figure of AhuramazdaAchaemenid EmpireBehistun (Bisotun) rock relief and trilingual inscription of Darius I: the king, two attendants and the bound rebel leaders beneath the winged figure of Ahuramazda0000 · Card stacking, Name-calling, TestimonialContent noteTomb of Darius I at Naqsh-e Rustam: the king in relief beside his inscription DNa, c. 490 BCEAchaemenid EmpireTomb of Darius I at Naqsh-e Rustam: the king in relief beside his inscription DNa, c. 490 BCE0000 · Testimonial, Card stackingLine 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 notePersepolis, Apadana staircase relief: a figure with an animal from a procession of delegations, early fifth century BCEAchaemenid EmpirePersepolis, Apadana staircase relief: a figure with an animal from a procession of delegations, early fifth century BCE0000 · Card stacking, Manufactured consensusAlabaster relief, Assyrian troops storming a citadel, from Nineveh (reign of Sennacherib)Neo Assyrian EmpireAlabaster relief, Assyrian troops storming a citadel, from Nineveh (reign of Sennacherib)0000 · Card stackingContent noteColour lithograph of the Latin text of the Res Gestae Divi Augusti on the wall of the temple of Roma and Augustus at Ancyra, with the heading in large letters (Perrot, Guillaume and Delbet, 1872)Roman EmpireColour lithograph of the Latin text of the Res Gestae Divi Augusti on the wall of the temple of Roma and Augustus at Ancyra, with the heading in large letters (Perrot, Guillaume and Delbet, 1872)0014 · Card stacking, Glittering generalitiesSilver denarius of Vespasian, reverse IVDAEA with a trophy of arms and a seated mourning womanRoman EmpireSilver denarius of Vespasian, reverse IVDAEA with a trophy of arms and a seated mourning woman0070 · Card stackingContent note