The Enemy Has Long Ears (We in Scotland Must Be Most Careful)
A black battleship silhouette sits above the headline 'The Enemy Has Long Ears', with a text box asking people in Scotland not to talk about H.M. ships in public. The tell is the staged harm, 'Careless talk costs lives and ships', paired with a single prescribed remedy: keep silent.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1939
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- Not stated (marks 'A.G.7.' and a faint 'Gift of Central Outdoor Advertising Co.'; no government imprint legible)
- 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, Home front
- Event
- World War II
- Leader
- Winston Churchill
- Source
- Unidentified Source blurred: contractors, cutouts, buried disclosure
- Source
- U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 44, World War II Foreign Posters, retrieved October 3, 2026
- Rights
- Held by NARA, Unrestricted; hosted by owner decision (publication 1939-1945, UK origin)
Issuer not stated (A.G.7.). National Archives and Records Administration, 44-PF-442.
Text on the object
THE ENEMY HAS LONG EARS We in Scotland must be most careful not to give away anything about H.M. ships - where they are, where they've come from, when they're sailing, where they're going. Many of us can't help seeing and hearing - we can help repeating: above all we can keep our mouths shut in public places CARELESS TALK COSTS LIVES AND SHIPS [imprint:] A.G.7. [handwritten: British] GIFT OF CENTRAL OUTDOOR ADVERTISING CO.
