Forensic Research Archive of Manipulation and Exploitation

Content note: British colonial-office publicity image showing a colonial-era teaching hierarchy in Fiji, reproduced as published. This object is shown as it was published. Why

Learning to be Doctors in Fiji, 1939 UK poster: A painted classroom scene shows a British doctor teaching Fijian and other

Learning to be Doctors in Fiji

A painted classroom scene shows a British doctor teaching Fijian and other Pacific-island medical students at the Central Medical School, Suva, with a caption that colonial rule is improving health. Card-stacking: the text presents only the training scheme and its benefits and says nothing of other aspects of colonial administration.

Propaganda techniques used in this poster

Card stacking
Date
1939
Period
Second World War
Made by
British Information Services (agency of the British Government, New York); artist Nunney; printed by Alf Cooke Ltd
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
Health, Empire and colonialism
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)
British Information Services; artist Nunney; printed by Alf Cooke Ltd, c. 1939-1945. U.S. National Archives, RG 44.

Text on the object

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

Distributed by BRITISH INFORMATION SERVICES,
an Agency of the British Government,
30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York City.

LEARNING TO BE DOCTORS IN FIJI

Throughout the British Colonial Empire much is being done to improve and maintain the health of the people. This important work is carried on not only by Europeans but also by local men and women who are trained to become doctors or nurses. Here are medical students at work under the supervision of a British doctor in the Central Medical School at Suva, capital of the Colony of Fiji. They are not all Fijians; some come from other and far-distant Pacific islands. They will go home to heal the sick, to prevent the spread of diseases, and to raise the standard of health among their peoples.

G.P.D./491/13
PRINTED IN ENGLAND BY ALF COOKE LTD., LEEDS & LONDON. 51-9035
NUNNEY

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 cartouchesNew Kingdom EgyptFragments of the Abydos king list from Ramesses II's temple, in the British Museum: rows of royal cartouches0000 · Card stacking, TransferBehistun (Bisotun) rock relief and trilingual inscription of Darius I: the king, two attendants and the bound rebel leaders beneath the winged figure of AhuramazdaAchaemenid EmpireBehistun (Bisotun) rock relief and trilingual inscription of Darius I: the king, two attendants and the bound rebel leaders beneath the winged figure of Ahuramazda0000 · Card stacking, Name-calling, TestimonialContent noteTomb of Darius I at Naqsh-e Rustam: the king in relief beside his inscription DNa, c. 490 BCEAchaemenid EmpireTomb of Darius I at Naqsh-e Rustam: the king in relief beside his inscription DNa, c. 490 BCE0000 · Testimonial, Card stackingLine drawing of the Great Kadesh battle relief on the walls of the Ramesseum, from Breasted's History of EgyptNew Kingdom EgyptLine drawing of the Great Kadesh battle relief on the walls of the Ramesseum, from Breasted's History of Egypt0000 · Card stacking, TransferContent notePersepolis, Apadana staircase relief: a figure with an animal from a procession of delegations, early fifth century BCEAchaemenid EmpirePersepolis, Apadana staircase relief: a figure with an animal from a procession of delegations, early fifth century BCE0000 · Card stacking, Manufactured consensusAlabaster relief, Assyrian troops storming a citadel, from Nineveh (reign of Sennacherib)Neo Assyrian EmpireAlabaster relief, Assyrian troops storming a citadel, from Nineveh (reign of Sennacherib)0000 · Card stackingContent noteColour lithograph of the Latin text of the Res Gestae Divi Augusti on the wall of the temple of Roma and Augustus at Ancyra, with the heading in large letters (Perrot, Guillaume and Delbet, 1872)Roman EmpireColour lithograph of the Latin text of the Res Gestae Divi Augusti on the wall of the temple of Roma and Augustus at Ancyra, with the heading in large letters (Perrot, Guillaume and Delbet, 1872)0014 · Card stacking, Glittering generalitiesSilver denarius of Vespasian, reverse IVDAEA with a trophy of arms and a seated mourning womanRoman EmpireSilver denarius of Vespasian, reverse IVDAEA with a trophy of arms and a seated mourning woman0070 · Card stackingContent note