---
title: ATS - Be Active - Be Useful
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/uk-ats-be-active-be-useful-1939/
description: A photographic cut-out of a woman in ATS uniform sighting through an optical instrument on a tripod stands against a blue ground.
section: Collection
---

1. [Home](https://propagandaarchive.org/)
2. [Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/)
3. ATS - Be Active - Be Useful

[![ATS - Be Active - Be Useful, 1939 UK poster: A photographic cut-out of a woman in ATS uniform sighting through an optical](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/uk-ats-be-active-be-useful-1939.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/uk-ats-be-active-be-useful-1939.jpg)

# ATS - Be Active - Be Useful

A photographic cut-out of a woman in ATS uniform sighting through an optical instrument on a tripod stands against a blue ground, with the list of ATS trades below. The text says the service's 'skill and courage' 'compels respect and admiration' and closes on the slogan 'be active ATS be useful', virtue words that carry the appeal (glittering generalities).

## Propaganda techniques used in this poster

[Glittering generalities](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/glittering-generalities/)

## Text on the object

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

```
In every branch of the service, the skill and courage of the ATS compels respect and admiration. They serve as

SIGNAL OPERATORS • MOTOR CYCLIST MESSENGERS
SWITCH BOARD OPERATORS • CATERING PERSONNEL
MECHANICAL TRANSPORT DRIVERS • MECHANICS

be active ATS be useful

[signature:] BEVERLEY PICK
PRINTED FOR H.M. STATIONERY OFFICE BY J. WEINER LTD. LONDON. W.C.1. 51-3713.
```

[← ATS at the Wheel](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/uk-ats-at-the-wheel-1939/) [ATS Carry the Messages →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/uk-ats-carry-the-messages-1939/)

## More propaganda examples that use the same techniques

- [Gypsum alabaster slab inscribed in cuneiform, from Nimrud (Kalhu), reign of Ashurnasirpal II](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/nimrud-slab-ashurnasirpal-ii-inscription-883bce/) (Neo Assyrian Empire · 0000 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)
- [Colour 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)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/lithograph-res-gestae-ancyra-heading-0014/) (Roman Empire · 0014 · Card stacking, Glittering generalities)
- [Bronze sestertius of Trajan, reverse S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI, S C, the emperor on horseback riding down an enemy](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/sestertius-trajan-optimo-principi-0103/) (Roman Empire · 0103 · Testimonial, Glittering generalities)
- [Gold solidus of Constantine I, reverse RESTITVTORI LIBERTATIS](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/solidus-constantine-i-restitutori-libertatis-0313/) (Roman Empire · 0313 · Glittering generalities)
- [Gold solidus of Justinian I, reverse VICTORIA AVGGG with Victory holding a Christogram staff](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/solidus-justinian-i-victoria-avggg-0538/) (Byzantine Empire · 0538 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)
- [The Armada Portrait of Elizabeth I (Royal Museums Greenwich version), oil on panel](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/armada-portrait-elizabeth-i-greenwich-1588/) (England · 1588 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)
- [Medal of Elizabeth I: portrait in a ruff, reverse an ark on stormy waves with SAEVAS TRANQVILLA PER VNDAS (18th-century aftercast of a 1588 model)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/elizabeth-i-ark-medal-aftercast-1588/) (England · 1588 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)
- [Frontispiece to Eikon Basilike, The Pourtraicture of His Sacred Majestie in his Solitudes and Sufferings (Hollar, 1649)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/eikon-basilike-frontispiece-hollar-1649/) (Dutch Republic · 1649 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)