Forensic Research Archive of Manipulation and Exploitation
We Have the Men, We Have the Tanks, To Move Them We Must Have Jerricans, 1939 UK poster: Three stacked photographs show

We Have the Men, We Have the Tanks, To Move Them We Must Have Jerricans

Three stacked photographs show infantry, a tank and a field of jerricans beside a lorry, with the fuel cans given the largest type. The tell for transfer is the sequence: the weight of the first two lines, men and tanks, is carried onto the third, so a returned fuel can is framed as the missing link of the army.

Propaganda techniques used in this poster

Transfer
Date
1939
Period
Second World War
Made by
Ministry of Supply (poster numbered 'Ministry of Supply No 78')
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
War and the military, 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 Supply, UK. National Archives and Records Administration, WWII Foreign Posters (44-PF-512).

Text on the object

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

We have the
MEN
We have the
TANKS
To move them we must have
JERRICANS

MINISTRY OF SUPPLY No 78

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