Content note: Ethnic slur ('Jap') in the slogan; a Japanese soldier aims a rifle at the viewer. This object is shown as it was published. Why
'The Jap will get you first if you neglect to protect driving bands of shells' (LHQ ammunition-care poster no. 6)
A red-drawn Japanese soldier with a rifle crouches inside the white circle of a gun bore, beneath the line 'The Jap will get you first'. Below, three small diagrams give shell-handling rules. The enemy's threat is placed at the muzzle so that damaged driving bands read as danger to the gunner.
- Date
- 1943
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- Allied Land Forces Headquarters (LHQ), Australia; reproduced by LHQ Cartographic Company, Australian Survey Corps; artist Harry Garnet Kelly
- Region
- Oceania
- Country
- Australia
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- Military
- Regime
- Curtin Government
- Leader
- John Curtin
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Warn or inform
- Event
- World War II
- Techniques
- Fear appealTransfer
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- Australian War Memorial, retrieved October 2, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (AWM: 'Copyright expired - public domain'; Public Domain Mark)
Harry Garnet Kelly; Allied Land Forces Headquarters (LHQ) Cartographic Company, Australian Survey Corps, 1942-45. Australian War Memorial, ARTV00044.
Text on the object
THE JAP WILL GET YOU First IF YOU NEGLECT TO PROTECT DRIVING BANDS OF SHELLS... Result ◆ DAMAGE TO GUN BORES ◆ INACCURATE SHOOTING LIFT SHELLS AND KEEP GRUMMETS IN POSITION DON'T REMOVE SHELLS UNTIL READY FOR USE CORRECT STACKING PROTECTS DRIVING BANDS ELIMINATE UNNECESSARY REPAIRS & TRANSPORT No. 6 of a series of posters produced by L.H.Q. designed to stress the vital necessity for the care and preservation of ammunition during storage, handling and transport. [illegible] / Reproduced by L.H.Q. Cartographic Coy., Aust. Survey Corps.
The fine print at the foot is very small; the series number ('6') and a reference line at lower left are uncertain or illegible. The caption bar 'AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL' and the accession number are the museum's.
