Forensic Research Archive of Manipulation and Exploitation
You can bet your boots on him!, 1939 UK poster: A close photograph shows a helmeted soldier in a sleeveless shirt checking

You can bet your boots on him!

A close photograph shows a helmeted soldier in a sleeveless shirt checking his bare foot beside a pair of worn boots on sand. The text says fighting men have daily foot inspection and that 'our boots must keep them in marching trim', moving the soldier's hardship onto the people who make and supply boots.

Propaganda techniques used in this poster

Transfer
Date
1939
Period
Second World War
Made by
Ministry of Supply (poster No. 72), printed for HM Stationery Office by Multi Machine Plates Ltd.
Region
Western and Central Europe
Country
United Kingdom
Medium
Poster
Issuer type
State
Regime
Churchill Government
Leader
Winston Churchill
Audience
Mixed
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 / HMSO, c. 1939-1945. U.S. National Archives, RG 44.

Text on the object

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

You can
BET YOUR BOOTS
on him!

BRITAIN'S FIGHTING MEN
HAVE DAILY FOOT INSPECTION.
OUR BOOTS MUST KEEP THEM
IN MARCHING TRIM

MINISTRY OF SUPPLY No 72
PRINTED FOR H.M. STATIONERY OFFICE BY MULTI MACHINE PLATES LTD. LONDON E.C.4  S1-93

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