---
title: The Eyes of the Navy
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/uk-eyes-of-the-navy-sunderland-1939/
description: A colour picture of a Short Sunderland flying boat over the sea, with a Union flag emblem marked 'For Freedom'. It is mainly informational.
section: Collection
---

1. [Home](https://propagandaarchive.org/)
2. [Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/)
3. The Eyes of the Navy

[![The Eyes of the Navy, 1939 UK poster: A colour picture of a Short Sunderland flying boat over the sea, with a Union flag](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/uk-eyes-of-the-navy-sunderland-1939.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/uk-eyes-of-the-navy-sunderland-1939.jpg)

# The Eyes of the Navy

A colour picture of a Short Sunderland flying boat over the sea, with a Union flag emblem marked 'For Freedom'. It is mainly informational. The tell for transfer is the flag and roundels carrying the message; the tell for card-stacking is that only the aircraft's range and patrol role are stated, with no results or losses.

## Propaganda techniques used in this poster

[Transfer](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/transfer/) [Card stacking](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/card-stacking/)

## Text on the object

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

```
THE EYES OF THE NAVY

"SUNDERLAND" FLYING BOATS can fly very long distances without re-fuelling. These Coastal Command flying boats are the eyes of the British Navy for they patrol the seas and keep a constant watch for enemy shipping. They then wireless the position of hostile craft to Navy destroyers.

[imprint:] FOR FREEDOM  GPD/ED9/6
```

[← Every Stamp Blots a Nazi - Buy War Savings](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/uk-every-stamp-blots-a-nazi-1939/) [Les Fabriques de la Grande-Bretagne Rendent à Plein - Ici on Accélère la Construction des Tanks →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/uk-fabriques-de-la-grande-bretagne-tanks-1939/)

## More propaganda examples that use the same techniques

- [Fragments of the Abydos king list from Ramesses II's temple, in the British Museum: rows of royal cartouches](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/abydos-king-list-ramesses-ii-temple-british-museum/) (New Kingdom Egypt · 0000 · Card stacking, Transfer)
- [Clay cylinder with the Ehulhul inscription of Nabonidus, king of Babylon, describing work on three temples](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/cylinder-nabonidus-ehulhul-inscription-555bce/) (Neo Babylonian Empire · 0000 · Transfer)
- [Seated limestone statue of Hatshepsut as king, with feminine royal titles on the throne, reassembled from fragments broken up at Deir el-Bahri](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/hatshepsut-seated-statue-limestone-met-1458bce/) (New Kingdom Egypt · 0000 · Transfer, Testimonial)
- [Glazed-brick panel with a striding lion, from Babylon (reign of Nebuchadnezzar II)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/ishtar-gate-panel-striding-lion-nebuchadnezzar-ii-604bce/) (Neo Babylonian Empire · 0000 · Transfer)
- [Limestone relief block of Ramesses II wearing the White Crown, a jubilee relief from his temple at Herakleopolis](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/jubilee-relief-ramesses-ii-herakleopolis-met-05-4-256/) (New Kingdom Egypt · 0000 · Transfer)
- [Line drawing of the Great Kadesh battle relief on the walls of the Ramesseum, from Breasted's History of Egypt](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/kadesh-relief-ramesseum-breasted-drawing-1275bce/) (New Kingdom Egypt · 0000 · Card stacking, Transfer). Content note: A drawing of an Egyptian royal battle relief showing Hittite soldiers and horses killed and drowned, as the king's monument presented the battle; it is a one-sided image made by the winning side's own account.
- [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)
- [Egyptian alabaster jar inscribed with the name of Xerxes the Great in four languages (Old Persian, Elamite, Babylonian, Egyptian), 486 to 466 BCE](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/xerxes-jar-four-languages-486bce/) (Achaemenid Empire · 0000 · Transfer)
