5,000,000 Men : "I have said that I would let the country know when more men were wanted for the War. The time has come and I call for 300,000 recruits to form new armies"

A poster depicting a crowd of workers, joining up with soldiers at the Front. The soldiers stand on either side of a text , with a portrait, regrading Kitchener's appeal.. The poster was produced for Lord Kitchener's Memorial Fund and the British Red Cross. This poster was designed for the Kitchener appeal for recruits to the British Army in May 1915. To the left of the Kitchener letter stand a crowd of male industrial workers, with smoking chimneys of factories behind. To the right stand a crowd of British soldiers, artillery shells in front of them and the smoking barrel of a manned howitzer in the background. The foremost men on both sides look across to each other. In the upper centre of the composition is a small head portrait of Lord Kitchener, surrounded by a wreath of oak leaves. The central text of Kitchener's letter reads: "5,000,000 MEN I have said that I would let the country know when more men were wanted for the war. The time has come and I now call for 300,000 recruits to form new armies - Those who are engaged on the production of war material of any kind should not leave their work. It is to men who are not performing this duty that I appeal. 16th May 1915, Kitchener". The poster was published by Raphael Tuck & Sons, Ltd. for the benefit of the Lord Kitchener National Memorial Fund and the British Red Cross Fund. Frank Brangwyn (1867-1956) was not an official war artist, although he produced over 80 poster designs during the first World War. A large proportion of Brangwyn's work during this period was given free of charge to charitable groups, for example the Red Cross, National Institute for the Blind, and Belgian and Allied Aid League. He produced work for clients included the National War Savings Committee, the UERCL (Underground Electric Railways Company of London), and the United States Navy. Brangwyn also designed six recruiting posters for the 'Daily Chronicle'.