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
- Date
- 1939
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- Auxiliary Territorial Service / War Office (recruiting); artist Beverley Pick; printed for HMSO by J. Weiner Ltd., London
- Region
- Western and Central Europe
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Churchill Government
- Leader
- Winston Churchill
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Recruit
- Themes
- War and the military, Gender and suffrage
- 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)
UK government poster; National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), WWII Foreign Posters, NAID 44266280.
Text on the object
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.
