Place | Oceania: Australia |
---|---|
Accession Number | ARTV00034 |
Collection type | Art |
Measurement | Overall: 91.5 x 57.3 cm |
Object type | Poster |
Physical description | chromolithograph on paper |
Maker |
Watkins, John Samuel NSW Government W. A. Gullick, Government Printers |
Place made | Australia: New South Wales, Sydney |
Date made | c. 1916-1918 |
Conflict |
First World War, 1914-1918 |
Copyright |
Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain This item is in the Public Domain |
Defend your homes, your women and children. Enlist now!
Australian First World War recruitment poster. Depicts a woman wrapped in a blanket with a baby in her arms. The smoking remains of a house occupies the background. The image occupies the centre of the poster, and is bordered in grey ink. The title, printed in black ink, occupies the upper part of the poster. This poster was one of many used throughout Allied countries in which the Belgian victims of German invasion, particularly women and children, were depicted as refugees. Recruitment posters were in prolific supply in Australia throughout the First World War. Australia relied solely on voluntary recruits to serve in the AIF. Compulsory military service, or conscription, for eligible men was in force in Australia from 1911, however, these forces were for home defence and could not be used to serve in a war overseas. Following the initial rush of men to recruit in 1914, enrolments dropped, leaving federal and state governments to devise sophisticated campaigns to boost numbers.