Lend a Hand on the Land
Photographed hands, one gripping the other wrist inside a black circle, sit above text asking spare-time volunteers to help bring in the harvest for pay. The fear appeal is the stated consequence: part of the harvest 'will be lost to the nation unless you help', with ships and food supply at stake in a 'critical period of the war'.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1939
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- Printed for H.M. Stationery Office by Chromoworks Ltd., London (British government wartime agriculture appeal)
- Region
- Western and Central Europe
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Churchill Government
- Leader
- Winston Churchill
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Mobilize or secure compliance
- Themes
- Home front, Labor
- Event
- World War II
- Leader
- Winston Churchill
- 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 (UK Crown copyright, 50 years from publication, expired before 1996; no URAA restoration)
British government (printed for H.M. Stationery Office by Chromoworks Ltd.), 1939-1945. National Archives and Records Administration, WWII Foreign Posters (44-PF-268).
Text on the object
LEND A HAND ON THE LAND THIS YEAR'S HARVEST MUST BE AN ALL-TIME RECORD- more ships must be released and we must have enough food to carry us through what may well be the critical period of the war. The farmers have planned and worked magnificently. But it takes twenty pairs of hands to deal with what one pair has sown. Part of this year's vital harvest will be lost to the nation unless you help by spending some of your spare time on the land. You will receive payment for your labour. In Towns: apply to your Employment Exchange or Citizens Advice Bureau for the address of War Agricultural Executive Committee. In Country: to Women's Institute or Women's Voluntary Service. PRINTED FOR H.M. STATIONERY OFFICE BY CHROMOWORKS LTD., LONDON. 51-3636.
