Millions of troops are on the move... Is YOUR trip necessary?
Office of Defense Transportation poster: a painted crowd of smiling servicemen in garrison caps fills the foreground, with troop-train coaches behind them, under 'Millions of troops are on the move...' and 'Is YOUR trip necessary?'. The troop crowd sets military need against civilian travel, with 'YOUR' underlined. Its technique is faint here, and the closest is transfer of the troops' claim onto the reader's choice.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1943
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- Office of Defense Transportation (artist Montgomery Melbourne)
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Mobilize or secure compliance
- Themes
- Home front, War and the military
- Event
- World War II
- Regime
- Roosevelt administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- 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 Posters, retrieved October 4, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (U.S. government work)
Office of Defense Transportation (artist Montgomery Melbourne). National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-1358 (NAID 515012).
Text on the object
Millions of troops are on the move... Is YOUR trip necessary? OFFICE OF DEFENSE TRANSPORTATION [on a uniform collar:] US [signature:] MONTGOMERY MELBOURNE [imprint:] ☆ U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1943—O-[illegible]
