British World War II poster with a pair of gripper pliers crushing a swastika

Wartime poster designed by Frank Newbould featuring a pair of gripper pliers crushing a swastika. After the fall of France in June of 1940, Great Britain was left alone to withstand the full force of the German military and needed every citizen to do their part and assist in national defense. The gripper pliers symbolize how a unified industrial workforce could crush the Nazi threat. During the war, Britain’s economy transformed into a war economy focused on production for the war effort. Workers were tied to jobs that were considered essential, and employers were prevented from terminating workers without permission from the government. The poster was published by Her Majesty’s Stationary Office (HMSO). The HMSO was founded in the 1780s to provide documentary support and paper based supplies for the British government. The office was instructed to supervise the printing of 78 million ration books and instruction manuals on everything from cooking to air raids before the outbreak of the war. Frank Newbould was an artist who designed travel promotion posters for rail and shipping lines. In 1942, he joined the War Office, where he designed the “Your Britain: Fight for It Now” series of posters.