Propaganda Leaflets Collection

[LoyalHistorian]

AI-167-11-44 was made by the Germans to be dropped on British troops fighting in Italy, November 1944. The "AI" code indicates that the leaflet was prepared by the Propaganda Abschnitts Offizer Italien organization. This group's printed material was produced in both Berlin and Verona, Italy. The organization in charge of German propaganda at this time was the SS-Standarte Kurt Eggers, given that honor title for the former editor of the SS magazine Das Schwarz Korps who was killed in action near Kharkov. Before July 1944, propaganda was produced by German military groups themselves. After the well-known assassination attempt on Hitler, all propaganda was put under the direct supervision of the SS-Standarte Kurt Eggers, who were seen as more devoted than just the German military. From then on, propaganda chain-of-command went directly from Hitler to Himmler to Gunter d’Alquen (commander of Kurt Eggers group) to whatever propaganda unit was making the leaflets.

Some of the most interesting leaflets to me are the German-made propaganda about the V1 and V2 weapons (Vergeltungswaffe - vengeance weapons). I would think it’d have been very effective propaganda at causing fear or worry since it dealt so much damage to London and surrounding areas. The V1 “buzz bombs” themselves had a psychological effect with the noise they made, with the awful anticipation of the noise stopping and wondering if it was going to land on you or your loved ones. My grandma would tell me stories of growing up during the war. One that stuck with me as a kid was her being able to hear the hum/buzz of a V1 overhead.

Even before the Germans actually used a V2 rocket against the British, they used the idea of the V2 in their propaganda to try to strike fear. This leaflet talks about the V2 and how it’s no longer just a threat - it’s actually been used, with evidence from Churchill’s speech on the back. Since the V2s were rockets, and not buzz bombs, you wouldn't hear it coming (so-to-speak).


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[LoyalHistorian]

This AW 24 "All Aboard, Outward Bound" leaflet is one of my favorites that I own, as far as imagery. The grim reaper over the train engine with the column of silhouetted soldiers as the train cars. It's quite a bit smaller than most at 3.8" x 5.7". The "AW" series were printed by the Germans for use against Allied troops and French civilians around the Normandy area after Operation Overlord, 1944. This specific one is directed at the Americans, asking why they are fighting in a war that is not theirs for the "greedy" British (their words, not mine).

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[Vocht]

I have a few of these. How do you store them? Some of them are too frail to touch. Does plastification do anything to the collectability?

[LoyalHistorian]

Vocht - I store mine in an archival binder where you slip the leaflet in through the top. Some that I have bought from others that are frail have come in these rigid plastic sleeves (kind of like trading card holders, but bigger). If they are really fragile, I'll just leave them in that rigid plastic then put it in the binder. I wouldn't do the plastification. Most collectors aren't going to go for that unless it's something really rare that they want to add to their collection. I personally could understand if that was your only option because it was falling apart at the touch and you risked losing the piece forever. But, I'd try other options before taking that step. Putting it in something archival like the binder or rigid sleeve that it could be left untouched from then on would be my suggestion to try.

[lebus12]

Nice ! Good luck with cold weather, we saw that at the French TV.

[lebus12]

[lebus12]

[LoyalHistorian]

Michel, you're leaflets keep coming! Seems like you've got a nice collection of them yourself! Did you get all of your locally, or do you search out leaflets to buy, too?

-Robyn

[LoyalHistorian]

101-J-1. This leaflet was made by the US to be dropped on Japanese soldiers on Luzon. It was printed in Brisbane, Australia around March 1945 and dropped by the 38th Bomb Group. It shows Formosa, the Ryukyus Islands (Okinawa) and Japan under American bombing attacks.

The “J” series were produced by the Psychological Warfare Branch (PWB) of the South West Pacific Area (SWPA). The first number was the leaflet’s number, the “J” code was for “Japanese” series, and the last number indicated which Army Group or Corps produced the leaflet. Each Army and Corps had its own PWB unit assigned to it, and bomber wing groups had PWBs attached to them, too. The only exception to this numerical code was “J-1”. The “1” was not for the First Army or the First Corps, the “1” group represented General MacArthur’s own PSYOPS staff. So “101-J-1” was the 101st leaflet of the J series by MacArthur’s PWB group. There were over 200 in the “J-1” series. Keep in mind that the “J-1” series was not the only leaflet series produced by the PWB of SWPA, either, with other Armies and Groups making their own. There was also the “F” series that stood for “Filipino”.

Just some quick information. In June 1944, MacArthur authorized the formation of the Psychological Warfare Branch (PWB) of the South West Pacific. Prior to that, the Australians in the Far Eastern Liaison Office (FELO) were making propaganda for the area. PWB South West Pacific existed to help MacArthur reclaim the Philippines. So, the Americans in PWB did propaganda for the Philippines (and later Japan) while FELO did so for the Australian, British, and Dutch areas in the Pacific. PWB and FELO worked closely together and some leaflets were used interchangeably in each others’ areas. Sgt. Herb Friedman’s psywarrior.com has much more detailed information about the PWB SWPA in one of his articles if you would like to read more about it.

The translation for the back of this leaflet I found from Pacific University Oregon’s permanent collection. They have a scrapbook that belonged to Colonel Karl F. Baldwin, US Army, who was part of PWB Southwest Pacific. A scan of the original data sheet/typed translation copy for 101-J-1 was included, so I transcribed it. The front translation I just photoshopped the image of mine and typed up the words.

The leaflet I own is a little rough with the ink flaking off of it in many places, especially the back where much of the text is gone. To me, it looks like it was probably in a stack with other leaflets that had been on top of each other for so long, that when they were separated, the other leaflets took away some of the printed ink. There is also an impression of large Japanese text on the back that is not on the front, so probably from whatever leaflet was housed next to it. Despite its flaws, I still really like it and am glad to have it in my collection.

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[LoyalHistorian]

Leaflet “SK J 2004” is considered a four-page leaflet since it is meant to be folded in half like a booklet. It was made by the Germans for the US troops. The code "SK" stands for "Skorpion" and the “J” for detachment J. This group was part of the SS-Standarte "Kurt Eggers". SK was Skorpion West and targeted Allied troops on the Western Front. The dissemination of this leaflet was by rocket "Pr.Gs.41" (Propagandageschoss 41) and by artillery shell 10.5cm "Weiss-Rot-Geschoss", both being specially designed for this purpose. It was distributed January 1945.

The design of this leaflet was styled on the US War Department’s Pamphlet No. 21-7, printed in May 1944. The little booklet was titled “If you should be CAPTURED these are your rights”. Inside it talks about those rights with drawings, hoping to prepare anyone who might be taken as a POW. The Germans took the same design of the front of the booklet and titled their leaflet “If you should be CAPTURED you will be safe”. I don’t own the Pamphlet No. 21-7 (yet), so I don’t have an example of my own to scan. However, if you would like to see what it looks like, here is a link to Lone Sentry’s website where they have scanned the front cover and each of the inside drawings, then typed what each page has written: If You Should Be Captured, These Are Your Rights - War Department Pamphlet No. 21-7 - May 1944 (Lone Sentry)


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