Forensic Research Archive of Manipulation and Exploitation
Keep the Wheels Turning! Repair Work is Vital to the War Effort, 1939 UK poster: A large black and orange hand grips

Keep the Wheels Turning! Repair Work is Vital to the War Effort

A large black and orange hand grips a spanner under the arched words 'Keep the wheels turning!' and 'Repair work is vital to the war effort'. The tell for transfer is the attachment of the war effort's weight to ordinary repair work, with the worker's hand standing in for the whole workforce.

Propaganda techniques used in this poster

Transfer
Date
1939
Period
Second World War
Made by
Ministry of War Transport; artist Frank Newbould; printed for H.M. Stationery Office by H. Manly & Son 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, 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)
Ministry of War Transport, printed for H.M. Stationery Office by H. Manly & Son Ltd; artist Frank Newbould, c. 1941-1945. U.S. National Archives, NAID 44266730, local identifier 44-PF-261.

Text on the object

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

KEEP THE WHEELS TURNING!

REPAIR WORK
is VITAL to the
WAR EFFORT

ISSUED BY THE MINISTRY OF WAR TRANSPORT

FRANK NEWBOULD
Printed for H.M. Stationery Office by H. Manly & Son Ltd. 51-8656

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