Content note: Ethnic slur ('Japs') in the slogan. This object is shown as it was published. Why
'We'll take care of the Japs, mates, if you'll take care of our food' (Australian food-hygiene poster)
A slouch-hatted Australian soldier in jungle green with fixed bayonet stands in tall grass under a red banner reading "We'll take care of the Japs, mates, if you'll take care of our food". The colloquial 'mates' and the infantryman's voice speak to food handlers as equals, and the soldier's role is lent to a message about clean food.
- Date
- 1943
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- Australian wartime food-supply and hygiene campaign (sponsor not named on the poster; maker unknown)
- Region
- Oceania
- Country
- Australia
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- Mixed
- Regime
- Curtin Government
- Leader
- John Curtin
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Themes
- War and the military, Home front, Health
- Event
- World War II
- Techniques
- Plain folksTransfer
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- Australian War Memorial, retrieved October 2, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (AWM: 'Copyright expired - public domain'; Public Domain Mark)
Maker unknown, Australia, 1942-45. Australian War Memorial, ARTV02129.
Text on the object
We'll take care of the Japs, mates, if you'll take care of our food Dirt can be deadlier than bullets – It's up to us to send the fighting men WHOLESOME FOOD
Marks in the margins (a small printed mark at top left and lower right, and the artist's mark at lower left) are illegible. The caption bar 'AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL' and the accession number at the foot are the museum's.
