Forensic Research Archive of Manipulation and Exploitation
Outcrop Workers! A Reserve of Coal is as Important as a Reserve of Shells, 1942 UK poster: A black heap of coal sits above

Outcrop Workers! A Reserve of Coal is as Important as a Reserve of Shells

A black heap of coal sits above a stack of artillery shells, joined by the slogan 'A reserve of coal is as important as a reserve of shells'. The poster transfers the urgency of ammunition stocks onto coal output, addressed to outcrop (surface-seam) coal workers.

Propaganda techniques used in this poster

Transfer
Date
1942
Period
Second World War
Made by
Ministry of Fuel and Power and Ministry of Works; printer Multi Machine Plates 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
Labor, Home front
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 Fuel and Power and Ministry of Works; printed for HMSO by Multi Machine Plates Ltd. U.S. National Archives, NAID 44266873.

Text on the object

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

OUTCROP WORKERS!
A RESERVE OF COAL
IS AS IMPORTANT AS
A RESERVE OF SHELLS

ISSUED BY THE MINISTRY OF FUEL AND POWER AND THE MINISTRY OF WORKS
PRINTED FOR H.M. STATIONERY OFFICE BY MULTI MACHINE PLATES LTD. LONDON E.C.4. 51-3694

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