Your Country Needs You

by James Taylor

  Kitchener was posted across Great Britain and parts of the British Empire, but the posters were predominantly the PRC LORD KITCHENER designs. By modern standards, the design of this and other PRC posters is weak in comparison to Leete’s design, and the slogans are often limp, too. Many of the PRC posters were created by committees. It was the subject of Kitchener himself, rather than the design of this official poster and others, that made them immensely popular.

  Interestingly, neither the LORD KITCHENER posters nor Leete’s war cartoon featured in the set of twelve cigarette cards collectively called ‘Recruitment Posters’, produced by W.D. & H.O. Wills in 1915, or the Wills set published for Australia. On the back of each card of the British set, it stated that each poster was published by the Parliamentary Recruiting Committee, except for RALLY ROUND THE FLAG. The tobacco company selected many of the popular posters that included (in alphabetical order): ‘ANOTHER CALL’; COME ALONG, BOYS!; “FALL IN”; FOLLOW ME!; HE DID HIS DUTY. WILL YOU DO YOURS?; LINE UP, BOYS!; RALLY ROUND THE FLAG; REMEMBER BELGIUM; THE “SCRAP OF PAPER”; THERE IS STILL A PLACE IN THE LINE FOR YOU; THINK!; and WHAT IN THE END WILL SETTLE THIS WAR?15

  Four recruitment poster cigarette cards (NH)

  If the London Opinion poster of Kitchener had captivated public attention during the war years, it would be reasonable to expect far more contemporary critical notice. Leete was certainly conscious of the success of his cartoon and decided to create variants and parodies himself in following issues of London Opinion. On the cover of the 14th November 1914 issue, he created a cartoon captioned ‘Wanted’, which depicted an imagined Your COUNTRY NEEDS YOU poster affixed to a wall with the outstretched arm of Kitchener, his sleeve bearing the word ‘Conscription’, about to grab an unsuspecting city gentleman.

  In the same issue, Leete had another smaller cartoon featured, which portrayed a carpenter holding a plank of wood and bag of tools talking to an old bearded man beside a wall displaying the official recruiting poster, YOUR KING & COUNTRY NEEDS YOU. The captions reveal the dry sense of humour and love of double meaning that made Leete such a popular cartoonist – The Old ’Un: ‘How is it you ain’t gone for a soldier?’ The Young ’Un: ‘Ow could I? I’m on piece work.’

  There is one notable independent parody of Leete’s design, captioned ‘Why Are YOU Still in Khaki?’, and published in black and white in The Bystander on 25th August 1915. Created by Dundee-born commercial artist and poster designer Alick Ritchie (1868–1938), it was one of three images forming his main design, accompanied by the slogan ‘Some Recruiting From The Army Posters – Hints for the Peace Office when the time comes for recruiting for Civilian Ranks’.16

  In addition, there is one colour postcard design in Hiley’s private collection by Sidney Atkinson Potts (1886–1962). It is from circa 1914 and features the words ‘It’s YOU I Want! – Please Sir! I Didn’t Break It!!’ Potts was a press artist living and working in London during the war years. As such he would have been familiar with the latest covers and images of the London magazines. He may have viewed a poster featuring Leete’s Kitchener cartoon, but he was more likely to have seen the cover of London Opinion of 5th September 1914. It is the only known contemporary comic send-up in colour inspired by Leete’s Kitchener cartoon.

  Leete’s original artwork of Lord Kitchener for London Opinion was excluded from the exhibition of war posters put on tour by the Imperial War Museum in 1917, however, it was included in the prestigious exhibition of war posters in 1919 at the Grafton Galleries, London. As several propaganda poster specialists have observed, including Jim Aulich, the contributor of Alfred Leete’s entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, ‘the inclusion of this artwork design in that exhibition is the likely explanation for why it has so often been mistakenly reproduced as a published poster’.

  After entering the IWM collections, it was catalogued as part of the poster collections and this also explains the confusion that still surrounds its original creation and purpose.

  Certainly Leete’s forceful Lord Kitchener cartoon attracted various printers and publishers to the potential of adapting it for posters in Britain and abroad. But the remarkable familiarity with Leete’s cartoon issued as a poster by London Opinion derives only from a much later post-war period following its acquisition by the IWM in the 1950s, and when it became widely available to see in reproductions and in digital form in fairly recent decades.

  Leete’s war cartoon ‘Your Country Needs YOU’ is striking and the slogan easy to recall compared to the longer caption of the London Opinion poster, BRITONS – WANTS YOU – JOIN YOUR COUNTRY’S ARMY! GOD SAVE THE KING. It should also be borne in mind that the slogan ‘Your Country Needs YOU’ has universal appeal as clearly it could apply to any country, whereas the caption of the London Opinion poster has limited appeal to those only with a kinship or sympathy to Britain. For many people, Leete’s ‘Your Country Needs YOU’ cartoon has become the dominant recruitment image of World War I simply because the slogan is the only one that readily springs to mind.

  Spoof of the Kitchener cartoon (NH)

  John Bull in ‘Kitchener pose’ (KCL)

  CHAPTER 2

  WEAPONS OF MASS PERSUASION

  ORIGINS, DEVELOPMENT AND DESIGN OF BRITISH RECRUITMENT POSTERS IN WORLD WAR I

  ON 28th JUNE 1914, the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria destabilised the delicate allegiances and power-pacts of world politics. It sparked off a war that was driven to a large extent by the vexatious nature, imperial ambitions and warmongering of Wilhelm II, the German Emperor and King of Prussia. It was a war that would change the lives of millions of people around the world. More than fifty million (some sources suggest sixty and even seventy) military personnel were mobilised and over nine million combatants were killed. Entire generations of young men from towns and villages across Europe were wiped out. The conflict drew in the global powers. The Entente powers and their allies were pitched against the Central powers. The former comprised Australia and New Zealand, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Greece, India, Italy, Japan, Montenegro, Newfoundland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia and South Africa and the United States of America among others; and the latter Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Germany and the Ottoman Empire.17

  Britain was not the only country taken by surprise at the audacious actions of Germany, which had signed the 1839 Treaty of London guaranteeing the neutrality of Belgium. This treaty was effectively ripped up when Kaiser Wilhelm approved the invasion of that country on 2nd August 1914. Luxembourg was taken quickly and by 20th August, the German army had entered Brussels. Allied propaganda commenced immediately, stating categorically that as Germany had not respected this international treaty then the country was not to be trusted.

  A PRC propaganda poster entitled THE “SCRAP OF PAPER” featured a photographic copy of the original 1839 agreement with the signatories of the six plenipotentiaries to the treaty, contemptuously referred to by the German Chancellor as ‘a scrap of paper’. Printed in December 1914, it was displayed throughout Britain and exported to sympathetic countries abroad. Also in December 1914, the PRC created what became an immensely popular poster: REMEMBER BELGIUM. Produced in two different sizes, the PRC records indicate that this was the second most popular poster in terms of numbers.18

  In defence of Belgium, and fearful of invasion threats, Britain declared war on Germany on 4th August 1914. Britain’s ‘Senior Service’, the Royal Navy, boasted some of the most technically advanced battleships, known as ‘dreadnoughts’ after HMS Dreadnought. In 1906, when this revolutionary ship entered active service, she was fitted with steam turbines, making her the fastest naval ship in the world. Britain had other capital ships, including the Queen Elizabeth-class battleships, comprising of five super-dreadnoughts commissioned between 1915 and 1916, which were the first ships to be fitted with 15-inch guns. HMS Queen Elizabeth took part in the Dardanelles campaigns of 1915 and four of the ships fought at the Battle of Jutland, 31st May – 1st June 191
6.19

  ‘The “Scrap of Paper”’ (Priv.)

  ‘Step Into Your Place’ (Priv.)

  After the introduction of the ‘dreadnoughts’, it was not surprising that many other countries wanted to own them or construct comparable vessels. Initially there were serious threats from German U-boats but these lessened in 1917 when convoys were introduced and the war at sea turned into a military stalemate.

  In terms of warfare at sea, the Royal Navy enjoyed technological advancements that were in marked contrast to the often inferior and sometimes sub-standard land-based equipment utilised by British military men. For example the English ‘Mark I’, the world’s first combat tank, introduced in 1916, had only varying degrees of success, with many of them developing technical faults and breaking down.

  In the air, there were British concerns about Zeppelins. Blimps and Sopwith ‘Camels’ and ‘Snipes’ took to the skies and aircraft carriers were utilised for the first time. As the war progressed, aircraft were used as long-range bombers, however, respective air forces were still in their infancy, with the Royal Air Force (RAF) only being formed on 1st April 1918.

  Despite all of the technological advances that took place during World War I, the conflict’s final outcome would ultimately be determined on land. At the outbreak of war, Britain still possessed a significant naval force maintained by sufficient numbers of sailors. However, it was evident that soldiers were in very short supply.

  The ‘Call to Arms’

  Britain’s long history of voluntary recruitment and a Liberal government that was against conscription ensured that – for the first year, at least – men were persuaded to sign up on a voluntary basis. It was also believed that the immediate introduction of conscription would alienate citizens rather than rally them to the defence of their country. The numbers required for the war, that ran longer than was widely predicted, dramatically increased and finally conscription was introduced in stages from January 1916 onwards. Married men were exempt until June of that year, although as Dr Adrian Gregory, lecturer in Modern History at the University of Oxford, has pointed out, those who had ‘attested’ under the Derby scheme (those married men who had agreed to serve on the understanding that they would be the last to be called up) were enlisted earlier.

  Initially the ‘Call to Arms’ relied upon patriotism and there was no shortage of men coming forward in the early months of war. Patriotism, pride, honour and duty were further awakened through various government and privately sponsored activities, events and schemes that included: comedy, displays, exhibitions, films, lantern slide shows, lectures, marching bands, musical and music hall performances, practical demonstrations, rallies, rousing speeches, singing and the theatre. The British Parliament, pulpit and the pub all played their part in stimulating enthusiasm for war and maintaining an interest in it.20

  ‘An Appeal To You’ (Priv.)

  War poetry would also play a part in recruitment, albeit to a limited extent. One of the most memorable poems, ‘In Flanders Fields’, was created by the Canadian physician Lieutenant-Corporal John Macrae. He was inspired to write it by the loss of a close friend at the Second Battle of Ypres (22nd April – 25th May 1915) in which Germany used poison gas for the first time on a large scale. The poem was later published by Punch magazine in London on 8th December 1915. As a result of the poem’s popularity, parts of it were used for recruitment purposes. The references to red poppies by the graves of dead servicemen – ‘In Flanders fields the poppies blow, Between the crosses, row on row’ – helped to contribute to what has become the world’s most memorable memorial symbol.

  Unique poster designed for Ireland (Priv.)

  Irish recruitment poster (Priv.)

  Recently though, historians of World War I, notably among them the University of Exeter’s Dr Catriona Pennell in A Kingdom United: Popular Responses to the Outbreak of the First World War In Britain and Ireland (Oxford University Press, 2012), have challenged the popularly-held assumption that most men, and some boys, were largely cheery and happy folk who rushed forward with wide-eyed innocence to take the colours. Pennell argued that the intial rush to enlist was largely driven by a ‘dutiful acceptance of the task ahead’ in large parts of Britain. In Simkins’ groundbreaking Kitchener’s Army, the crucial point is also made that many joined up as they had been told by so-called reliable sources that the war would only last a few months. Of course, there were specific groups, such as in Ireland, who were certainly not enamored with the idea of supporting Great Britain, and so specific Irish recruitment campaigns devised by Irish people were implemented to encourage enlistment.

  The power of advertising

  Adventure, camaraderie, exotic travel, salaries that were better than some occupations at home, as well as free smart uniforms (that were claimed to be alluring to the ladies), were all promoted in posters to encourage enlistment. Some designs were specially designed to spread feelings of guilt and fear. They included German atrocities such as the execution of the British nurse Edith Cavell in Belgium on 12th October 1915, although images of dead servicemen and women were rare in British posters and were usually actively discouraged by the PRC.

  Women at home were specifically targeted to back their men and as the war went on they took on new roles and jobs. Some women joined the ‘Order of the White Feather’ established by Admiral Charles Fitzgerald in August 1914 with support from the prominent author Mrs Humphrey Ward. This organisation encouraged women to hand out a white feather, indicating cowardice, to any man not in uniform. However, it was difficult to differentiate between a shirker and a genuine case of non-enlistment.

  Advertising would prove to be a far more effective recruitment method than white feathers. This medium and its methods were not without critics, with discontented voices coming from the British ruling classes who felt that advertising would destabilise the prevailing class system. With varying degrees of enthusiasm and reluctance, the British government enlisted the voluntary services of specialists and consultants from the world of advertising, and the press barons were encouraged to promote the war positively through their newspapers.

  Poster promising free uniforms for recruits (Priv.)

  Hedley Le Bas was one of the leading lights of the advertising industry who recounted how prior to the war he had an important and mutually beneficial meeting on Walton Heath golf course with Sir George Riddell, a fellow director of Caxton Publishing, and the politician and soldier John Edward Bernard Seely, 1st Baron Mottistone, who was, prior to Kitchener, Secretary of State for War. According to Le Bas, Colonel Seely (as he was then ranked) ‘happened to turn to me… “Now, you are an old soldier,” he said. “Supposing you had to find 35,000 men for the Army, how would you set to work?” My business experience had made me a man with one fixed idea – that publicity will find or create anything. Instantly I answered according to my faith: “I should advertise for them.” Colonel Seely, to my surprise, took my answer seriously.’21

  ‘If The Cap Fits You’ (Priv.)

  Le Bas’ company was awarded a government contract and £6,000 to generate effective advertising to raise recruits. His campaign commenced on 15th January 1914 and over time this resulted not only in effective newspaper advertising, but also a film promoting the British army.

  There was also a new wave of letterpress and pictorial posters, which included the following: THE WAR – FOUR QUESTIONS TO EMPLOYERS (21st December 1914); 5 QUESTIONS TO MEN WHO HAVE NOT ENLISTED (4th January 1915); 4 QUESTIONS TO THE WOMEN OF ENGLAND (13th January 1915); and 5 QUESTIONS TO THOSE WHO EMPLOY MALE SERVANTS (19th January 1915), among many others. Some targeted motor drivers, packers, porters, labourers and navvies, as well as ex-Non-Commissioned officers, clerks, shop assistants and shopkeepers. Posters were specially designed to raise recruits in Ireland and also translated into the Welsh language.22

  At the outbreak of war in August 1914, there were only 450,000 men in the British army, with 268,000 part-time soldiers in the Territorial Force. Lord Kitchener
, the Secretary of State for War, had the foresight to predict that the war would be long and costly. He took immediate steps, with the assistance of Le Bas and others, to expand the army into so-called ‘new armies’, which were also known collectively as ‘Kitchener’s Army’. After training, the men of these ‘new battalions’, some of which were initially privately funded, would join long-standing regiments. Britain’s army during the war numbered over five million men, by far the biggest in the nation’s history. Remarkably, almost half of those men who served in it were volunteers – an astonishing 2,466,719 men enlisted between August 1914 and December 1915, many in response to the appeals of the Secretary of State of War, Field Marshal Kitchener.

  Leete poster for the Tank Corps (IWM)

  Hedley Le Bas had his work cut out trying to convince Kitchener of the merits of new forms of advertising and poster production. Le Bas was well aware of the popular appeal of Kitchener, recognising that far more people identified positively with this military hero than the king of England. On 6th August 1914, Le Bas approached Kitchener to seek his permission to be featured in a new campaign.