Giant of the Air
A low-angle photograph shows a Handley Page Halifax bomber on an airfield with ground crew, and a caption giving its span, engines and crew and stating that 'more than 1,000 bombers' are sometimes sent in a single night over Germany and occupied territory. The tell for card-stacking is the presentation of size and raid strength without losses, results or dates.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1939
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- British government wartime poster series 'For Freedom' (issuing department and printer not stated; series mark and sheet code 'E.B.5' only)
- Region
- Western and Central Europe
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Churchill Government
- Leader
- Winston Churchill
- Audience
- Foreign public
- Purpose
- Persuade or win support
- Themes
- War and the military, Science and technology
- 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
- Held by NARA, Unrestricted; no rights statement on the sheet; hosted by owner decision
British wartime poster series 'For Freedom' (issuer not stated). National Archives and Records Administration, 44-PF-172j.
Text on the object
E.B.5 [logo: Union Jack] FOR FREEDOM GIANT OF THE AIR THE HANDLEY PAGE "HALIFAX" is one of the Royal Air Force's largest and newest bombers. It has a span of 99 feet, a length of 70 feet, and is 22 feet high. It is powered with four 1,260 horse-power Rolls-Royce Merlin engines and carries a crew of seven men. Huge bombers, like the Handley Page "Halifax" are taking part in the raids over Germany and German-occupied territory on which sometimes more than 1,000 bombers are sent in a single night.
