See How Your Salvage Helps a Bomber
A cutaway of an RAF twin-engined bomber with four numbered arrows ties household scrap metal, waste paper, waste rubber and bones to parts of the aircraft, from bombs and guns to dinghies and explosives. The tell is transfer: the standing of the aircraft and its crew is attached to the everyday act of putting out rubbish.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1939
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- Ministry of Supply (salvage campaign; imprint 'M.O.S. & R. 75'), printed for H.M. Stationery Office by Wm. Brown & Co., Ltd.; artist not stated
- 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, 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, 50 years from publication, expired before 1996; no URAA restoration)
H.M. Stationery Office / Wm. Brown & Co., Ltd., c. 1939-1945. U.S. National Archives, Record Group 44, World War II Foreign Posters.
Text on the object
SEE HOW YOUR SALVAGE HELPS A BOMBER 1 SCRAP METAL IS NEEDED FOR BOMBS, MACHINE-GUNS, CANNON AND CANNON SHELLS, AERO-ENGINES, RADIO & OTHER INSTRUMENTS 2 WASTE PAPER BOMB WASHERS, ENGINE GASKET WASHERS, BOMB INTERIOR CONTAINERS CARTRIDGE BOXES, ENGINE DUST COVERS, CARTRIDGE WADS, RADIO INSULATION & LAMINATED PLASTIC SHEETS. ONE TON OF PAPER JOINTING USED IN EVERY MILE OF CONCRETE RUNWAY 3 WASTE RUBBER LANDING WHEEL TYRES, SELF- SEALING TANK, COLLAPSIBLE RUBBER DINGHY, RADIO AND INSTRUMENT INSULATION, OXYGEN MASK, LIFE-SAVING JACKETS 4 BONES GLYCERINE FOR EXPLOSIVES Printed for H.M. Stationery Office by Wm. Brown & Co., Ltd., London, E.C. 3.-51-2912. M.O.S. & R. 75
