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Bomb Disposal Poster from 1942

Contributed by PennyGalpin

Bomb Disposal Poster from 1942

This poster came to me from my father, who was in the Royal Engineers as a sapper during the Second World War, in the UK. It depicts the hierarchy and personnel involved in bomb disposal, from the aloof officers at Group HQ to the men who did the dirty work, risking their lives - and many lost them - defusing bombs; and all the others who supported them.

The draftsman seems to have made the poster to entertain his fellow soldiers, and it bears his name and a Major's, bottom left. There is much black humour - bombs with faces, men flying through the air - which seems to evoke the war-time spirit of getting on with things and making a bad situation bearable.

I wanted to add this object because there has been a great deal in the media this year about the Blitz and the Battle of Britain, but very little has been said about this group of equally brave men.

My father came through the war uninjured physically, and was awarded the British Empire Medal (Military Division)'in recognition of gallant conduct in carrying out hazardous work in a very brave manner'. But he lost many comrades, and suffered some sort of post traumatic stress disorder for a while a few years later.

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Comments

  • 2 comments
  • 1. At 15:13 on 22 February 2011, Mags wrote:

    My late father was also in the Royal Engineers in the war. He served in North Africa, Sicily and Italy.

  • 2. At 18:54 on 3 June 2011, new_germany wrote:

    "Never the good is brought by wars, you, peace, is what we long for."
    Th cross of the nails of Coventry has been handed to the city of Würzburg, Germany, on the 16th of March 2001.
    Each year between 9.25 and 9.42 p.m., the air raid time, there is a
    MEMORIAL REQUIEM
    City of Würzburg, totally destructed by the RAF
    + 16 th of March 1945

    [Unsuitable/Broken URL removed by Moderator]

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Location
Culture
Period

1942

Theme
Size
H:
50cm
W:
62cm
Colour
Material

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