I Need Bones for Explosives
A sailor in a cap marked HMS points out of the frame beside barbed wire, under the headline 'I need BONES for explosives'; the panel below lists salvage uses from explosives and lubricating oil to glue. The uniformed sailor lends the Navy's standing to a request for household kitchen waste (transfer), and the panel states the practical uses.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1939
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- His Majesty's Stationery Office for the Ministry of Supply, Salvage and Recovery (M.O.S. S&R); printer J. Weiner Ltd.
- 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
- Home front, 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)
H.M. Stationery Office for the Ministry of Supply (Salvage and Recovery); printed by J. Weiner Ltd. U.S. National Archives, RG 44.
Text on the object
I need BONES FOR EXPLOSIVES PUT OUT YOUR BONES FOR SALVAGE to make Explosives · Lubricating Oil · Fire- resisting Paint · Animal Feed · Fertiliser Aircraft · Camouflage Materials · Glue etc. [imprint:] PRINTED FOR H.M. STATIONERY OFFICE BY J. WEINER LTD., LONDON, W.C.1. 51-3746 [at right:] M.O.S.S&R. 125
