An appeal from the Dardanelles: will they never come?

Recruiting poster produced by the State Parliamentary Recruiting Committee in Victoria. This poster was described by 'The Argus' on the 5th July 1915 as 'the first recruiting poster produced in Australia'. It was used by the Recruiting Committee as a means of shaming young men into enlisting by juxtaposing the image of an Australian soldier standing guard over his dead mate with a photograph of a Victorian Football League match.

This poster was adapted by poster artist Jim Hannan from a British poster titled 'Will they never come?' There are a few differences between the Australian poster and the British one. The photograph of the sports ground in the Australian version is of the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The original British poster was set in a snowy landscape, and the Australian one is set in the rocky heights of the Dardenelles. Another difference is size. The British version was approximately the size of an A3 piece of paper, whereas the Australian one is over two metres in both height and width. However the fundamental layout between the two versions is the same, as is the message - sporting men should be at the front doing their duty, not watching sports matches.