Forensic Research Archive of Manipulation and Exploitation
Railway Equipment is War Equipment, 1939 UK poster: A rail yard viewed from above shows locomotives, gun barrels on flat

Railway Equipment is War Equipment

A rail yard viewed from above shows locomotives, gun barrels on flat wagons and tanks on trucks, under the headline 'Railway equipment is war equipment' and the line 'Guns, shells and bombs are not the only munitions of war'. The tell is the transfer of the status of munitions onto railway stock, shown carrying weapons, to ask for care of railway equipment.

Propaganda techniques used in this poster

Transfer
Date
1939
Period
Second World War
Made by
Unstated sponsor; artist Fred Taylor; printed by Waterlow & Sons Ltd., London and Dunstable
Region
Western and Central Europe
Country
United Kingdom
Medium
Poster
Issuer type
Mixed
Regime
Churchill Government
Leader
Winston Churchill
Audience
Domestic public
Purpose
Persuade or win support
Themes
Home front, Economy and finance
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
UK Crown copyright or unstated rights holder, published 1939-1945; held by NARA, Unrestricted; hosted by owner decision
Artist Fred Taylor; printed by Waterlow & Sons Ltd., National Archives and Records Administration, 44-PF-364.

Text on the object

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

RAILWAY EQUIPMENT
IS WAR EQUIPMENT

Guns, shells and bombs are not
the only munitions of war

[imprint:] FRED TAYLOR / JULY 1883 [digits uncertain] / PRINTED IN ENGLAND / WATERLOW & SONS LTD LONDON & DUNSTABLE

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