These pilots will "gently" explain to Joe Dope what occurs in a plane
Ordnance cartoon for servicemen: two bandaged, torn-clothed pilots loom over a sweating, wide-eyed Joe Dope, with a verse about oil leaking away so the gun blows its backplate, and an inset diagram of oil being put in a 37 mm cannon with the recuperator at 5 degrees. The pilots' menace is a fear-appeal with 'poor little jay' as name-calling.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1943
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- Ordnance Department, U.S. Army; artist CWO Will Eisner
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- Military
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Own forces
- Purpose
- Warn or inform
- Theme
- 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)
Ordnance Department, U.S. Army. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-1143D (NAID 514693).
Text on the object
These pilots will "gently" explain To Joe Dope what occurs in a plane When a poor little jay Lets the oil leak away So the gun blows the backplate in twain! Important! 5° Oil should be put in 37 MM. Cannon with Recuperator at 5° angle [signature: CWO Will Eisner, ORDNANCE] [imprint:] U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1943-O-518000 [imprint:] ORDNANCE DEPARTMENT, U. S. ARMY
