Queenslanders, your country calls!...

Place Oceania: Australia, Queensland
Accession Number ARTV08938
Collection type Art
Measurement sheet: 76.2 x 50.8 cm
Object type Poster
Physical description chromolithograph on paper
Maker Queensland Recruiting Committee
A J Cumming, Government Printer
Place made Australia: Queensland, Brisbane
Date made 1915
Conflict First World War, 1914-1918
Copyright

Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain

Public Domain Mark This item is in the Public Domain

Description

Australian First World War recruitment poster with a direct appeal to Queenslanders enlist. The Union Jack features in the border, alternated with the a map of Queensland. The main image of the poster shows two large maps, one of the Balkans and Asia Minor, and the other of the Dardanelles. An Australian soldier stands before an Honour Roll listing his dead countryman, brandishing his bayonet rifle as he points to the Gallipoli Peninsula. The Australian Flag is featured in the bottom right corner, with the text 'We're coming lads, hold on!' emblazoned across it.

Recruitment posters were in abundant 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. After the initial enthusiasm of Australian men in 1914, enrolments dropped as the war dragged on. This state-based recruiting poster is one of only a small group which refers directly to Gallipoli. The maps and text suggests that this poster was published before December 1915.

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