Pride Goes Before a Fall
A four-panel grey drawing shows a pilot low-flying over a village to impress a friend in a house, then a newspaper headline 'Local R.A.F. pilot killed in low flying stunt', a crashed aircraft by the house, and a wrecked gun and vehicle with the line 'It is a pity he did not reserve his low flying efforts for a greater and proper occasion'. The tell is the staged fatal outcome used as the reason not to show off (fear appeal); the sheet is chiefly a training warning.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1940
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- Air Ministry (Air Diagram 1344, 'For official use only'); drawing by Leslie Carr, credited to the magazine The Aeroplane
- Region
- Western and Central Europe
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Churchill Government
- Leader
- Winston Churchill
- Audience
- Own forces
- Purpose
- Warn or inform
- Theme
- 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 expired; no URAA restoration); hosted by owner decision
Air Ministry; drawing by Leslie Carr for The Aeroplane. National Archives and Records Administration, 44-PF-65g.
Text on the object
This Pilot is "Showing Off"-Not so much to those in The Village, as those in a particular house. In fact to a particular friend in that house. [newspaper:] ...e News LATE EDITION ...V. 1940 LOCAL R.A.F. PILOT KILLED IN LOW FLYING STUNT ACCIDENT NEAR HOME It is to be regretted that the toll of ... And only too often this is the tragic result of his escapade It is a pity he did not reserve his low flying efforts for a greater and proper occasion. PRIDE GOES BEFORE A FALL Drawing by THE AEROPLANE LESLIE CARR For Official Use Only. Air Diagram No. 1344.
