The bombing in daylight of the power station at Knapsack, Germany, by the Royal Air Force - Back Them Up!
A painting shows RAF Blenheims over the Knapsack power station near Cologne, with chimneys, smoke and an explosion below. The tell is selection: only the destruction is shown, with no losses or cost, under the slogan 'Back them up!'.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1941
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- British government (Back Them Up! series; issuing ministry not named on the poster); artist James Gardner; printed by Chromoworks 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
- Mobilize or secure compliance
- Themes
- War and the military, Home front
- 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, artist James Gardner, printed by Chromoworks Ltd, 1941. U.S. National Archives, Record Group 44.
Text on the object
The bombing in daylight of the power station at Knapsack, Germany, by the Royal Air Force. BACK THEM UP! PRINTED IN ENGLAND by CHROMOWORKS LTD. LONDON. 51-2326.
