A thread for WWII art and posters.
We’re all familiar with Rosie the Riveter etc, but there is a huge library in many nations of less well known posters, some with their own special stories.
Such as this one, which followed the sinking of a clearly marked hospital ship by a Japanese submarine in 1943 off the coast of Queensland http://www.dva.gov.au/aboutDVA/publications/commemorative/centaur/Pages/index.aspx .
Here is a few from American propaganda
Australian home front poster.
More Australian posters http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-posters/post-1920.htm but click on items in menu at top of linked page for posters from other countries.
Notably Japan trying to drive a wedge between Australian and American forces (which the Japanese didn’t need to do as in some instances the Australians and Americans did it all by themselves without any external help. 
)
I rather like this one, both for its emotional appeal and the simplicity behind it in selling the message.
Yeah, well, I’d probably take the chance. Especially if I was about to embark on what might be the last journey of my life.
And, on the first poster, I’d be bloody grateful to the powers that be for issuing a poster equivalent to aircraft recognition posters so that I knew what sort of women to look for. 
“Black out! The enemy sees your light!”
An exceptional design IMHO.
There is something I can’t put my finger on about that image which reminds me of Fritz Lang’s film Metropolis, but advanced and converted into the circumstances of WWII.
Yet there is, from my memory, nothing in Metropolis which is remotely like that.
So I suspect that the poster represents a form of German or other art of the era which I’ve seen before but can’t now identify.
Any idea of the school of art?
The poster was designed by graphic artist Otto Sander-Herweg (1880-?) in 1940. It was supposed to create a certain medieval “danse macabre” atmosphere and was meant to express the “existential menace to the German people”.
Unfortunately there’s no further info about the artist on the net…
Were we using the Uncle Sam poster in WWII?
The icon was used since at least WWI and probably before. It’s said the “Uncle Sam” character was invented by US troops in the War of 1812 after looking at the “U.S.” moniker on boxes of ration meat…
A British poster.
Japanese propaganda aimed at trying to turn the Aussies against America.
I knew it was real popular during WWI, inspired by a similar British poster featuring Lord Kitchener. Never heard the ration boxes story before!
Canadian
