Beware: Never give away the movements of H.M. Ships
A half-face caricature of Hitler, with an oversized ear, peers round a black bar above the word BEWARE and a four-line rhyme telling seafarers never to speak or write of cargo, origin, destination or sailing time. The tell for name-calling is the exaggerated caricature standing for the enemy; the tell for fear-appeal is the listening ear implying that careless talk is overheard.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1939
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- Admiralty (H.M. ships movements security), printed for H.M. Stationery Office by G. F. Tomkin Ltd, London; artist Gerald Lacoste
- Region
- Western and Central Europe
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Churchill Government
- Leader
- Winston Churchill
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Warn or inform
- Themes
- Security and surveillance, War and the military
- 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)
Gerald Lacoste, printed for H.M. Stationery Office by G. F. Tomkin Ltd. U.S. National Archives, Record Group 44.
Text on the object
BEWARE Whether alone or in a crowd, Never write or say aloud, What you're loading, whence you hail, Where you're bound for, when you sail. -ABOVE ALL NEVER GIVE AWAY THE MOVEMENTS OF H.M. SHIPS Printed for H.M. Stationery Office by G. F. Tomkin Ltd., London, E.11.
