Forensic Research Archive of Manipulation and Exploitation
Is he killing time... or killing Nazis - Spares may decide, 1940 UK poster: A painted close-up of a goggled pilot looking

Is he killing time ... or killing Nazis - Spares may decide

A painted close-up of a goggled pilot looking upward sits under a pun, 'Is he killing time ... or killing Nazis', closing with 'Spares may decide'. The pilot's heroism is transferred to the workers who supply aircraft spares, and 'Nazis' is the single label for the enemy.

Propaganda techniques used in this poster

TransferName-calling
Date
1940
Period
Second World War
Made by
Ministry of Aircraft Production; printed for HMSO by Fosh & Cross Ltd, London
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
War and the military, Labor
Event
World War II
Regime
Churchill wartime government
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)
Crown copyright (UK government), 1939-1945; U.S. National Archives, NAID 44266688, Local Identifier 44-PF-243.

Text on the object

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

IS HE KILLING TIME
....OR KILLING NAZIS
Spares may decide

PRINTED FOR H.M. STATIONERY OFFICE BY FOSH & CROSS LTD., LONDON (51-4410)
MINISTRY OF AIRCRAFT PRODUCTION.

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