OUR FAVORITE LEAFLETS

My buddy retired Major Ed Rouse wrote to me the other day and said we should write something about the 20 best leaflets since WWI. I told him that was impossible because we would have to define “best.” Do we pick the one with the best image or the best text? Do we pick the one that was most impressive in changing the minds of the enemy or the one we think was the best written and most informative? And, how do we know we will find 20? And if we find one that we really like but a group of experts studied it and found it to be incorrect and inappropriate, then what? So, I told Ed that we should start by talking about the ones we liked the best, even if they were not universally liked. I also said that we should not pick an arbitrary number. We should just keep going until we find that there are not any more that really impressed us. I don’t know if we should start by wars or by theme. I think I will mix them just a bit. I will try to stay within wars, but if there is a theme we might add a sub-classification. This is all very arbitrary; there are leaflets that I found to be just OK but the experts at headquarters loved. There are others that I thought were really impressive that critical boards said were inappropriate, maybe because they asked the people to do something they clearly could not do, or broke some cultural norm. So, I have no idea how long this article will be or what it will look like. I intend to just tell the readers about leaflets that I really liked and we will see where it goes. We will all be surprised.

World War I

Leaflet A.P. 74.

World War I started with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austria- Hungarian throne, in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914 by a member of the Black Hand, a Serbian nationalist secret society. Things moved quickly thereafter. Austria-Hungary, unsatisfied with Serbia's response to her ultimatum declared war on Serbia on 28 July 1914. Russia, bound by treaty to Serbia, mobilized its vast army. Germany, allied to Austria-Hungary by treaty, viewed the Russian mobilization as an act of war against Austria-Hungary, and declared war on Russia on 1 August. France, bound by treaty to Russia, responded by announcing war against Germany and Austria-Hungary on 3 August. Germany promptly responded on 4 August by invading neutral Belgium to open a quick path to Paris. Britain, allied to Belgium declared war against Germany on 4 August. In just a little over a month all of Europe was at war. Japan, honoring a treaty with Britain, declared war on Germany on 23 August 1914. Italy was allied to both Germany and Austria-Hungary. She was first neutral, but in May 1915, she joined the British and French against her two former allies. The United States declared a policy of absolute neutrality on the same day Britain declared war, 4 August.

The U.S. would remain neutral until 1917 when Germany's policy of unrestricted submarine warfare and the British interception of the Zimmermann telegram to Mexico forced President Wilson to declare war on 6 April 1917. The German foreign minister, Arthur Zimmermann, had sent a Telegram to the German ambassador in Washington to approach the Mexican government with an offer: if it was to join any war against America, it would be rewarded with the territories of Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. The British had intercepted the letter, broken the code, and informed the United States.

My favorite British leaflet of WWI is A.P.74. The words BY BALLOON - Durch Luftballon are at the top. Notice the small hole at the top where the leaflets were held in place by a string from a propaganda balloon. The leaflet depicts a long line of American Dough Boys stretching from the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor to France. As George M. Cohan said in his song OVER THERE in 1917, The Yanks are Coming! The title at the bottom of the leaflet is:

THE FIRST MILLION

So, why do I like this leaflet? The war had gone on for almost three years with an amazing number of injuries and death by machinegun, artillery, aircraft and poison gas. Both sides were exhausted. They had pretty much fought to a draw. And then, the world learns that the Americans are coming by the millions. Some have said this was enough to force the Central powers to quit but there is no way to prove that. What we do know is that shortly afterwards the war was over and it is possible that this constant reminder that the Americans were on the way might have played with the enemies psyche.

The British first disseminated the leaflets in August 1918. The number produced is unknown. The British regularly updated these "Americans are coming" leaflets. For instance, A.P.84 produced in September 1918 gives the latest numbers. "American troops arriving in Europe: 117,212 in April, 224,345 in May, 276,372 in June."

Leaflet 1016 printed in October 1918 gives the total number of American troops in Europe; 100,000 in 1917, 1,750,000 in 1918, and a prospective 3,500,000 in 1919. Later in the same month leaflet 1025 raised the 1919 number to 5,000,000 American troops. It is no wonder that the German soldier became disheartened. It is my belief that these leaflets might have shortened the war considerably. It is a remarkable leaflet.

World War II

The Passierschein (The Official Allied Safe Conduct Pass for Germany)

By the time the United States entered World War II in December 1941, the British, French and Russians had already printed and dropped a host of surrender leaflets on the German Army. The leaflets were of different sizes, colors, texts, and even the surrender instructions were different. There was no overall guidance, and certainly no uniformity. This all changed with the arrival of American troops in the United Kingdom and the strong alliance between the U.S. and British psychological operators. For the first time the two allied nations worked together to prepare a standardized safe conduct leaflet that would be exactly the same wherever used. The final version of the "passierschein" has been called the most effective single leaflet of the war. It was considered so powerful that in 1944 the Allied Supreme Headquarters issued a directive forbidding reproduction of the safe conduct pass on other leaflets. They wanted to protect the authenticity of the document.

The story of the "passierschein" ("safe conduct pass") for Germany is interesting because of the alleged belief on the part of the Allies that the German officer or soldier would react in a positive way to an official looking document. Therefore, the Americans and British collaborated to produce a fancy official document bearing national seals of the United States and Great Britain and the signature of American General Dwight D. Eisenhower that would rival a stock certificate or college diploma. They produced the leaflets late in the war in various formats with different code numbers.

Paul M.A. Linebarger mentions the theory in Psychological Warfare, Infantry Journal Press, Washington D.C., 1948. He says:

Germans liked things done in an official and formal manner, even in the midst of chaos, catastrophe and defeat. The Allied obliged, and gave the Germans various forms of very official looking ‘surrender passes.’ One is printed in red and has banknote-type engraving which makes it resemble a soap-premium coupon.

Daniel Lerner says in Sykewar, George E. Stewart, NYC, 1949:

This safe conduct pass was generally regarded as the most successful leaflet produced by the Psychological Warfare Branch of Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF)…everything about the leaflet was designed to appear authoritative: the format handsomely engraved on good paper in a rich color, has been described as "looking like a college diploma.

Although the passes had minor changes in color; they were printed on cream-colored, red and green paper, the front was basically always the same. The back could differ depending on the target and desired message. They all had the same message in German and English on the front:

SAFE CONDUCT

The German soldier who carries this safe conduct is using it as a sign of his genuine wish to give himself up. He is to be disarmed, to be well looked after, to receive food and medical attention as required and to be removed from the danger zone as soon as possible.

Dwight D. Eisenhower,
Supreme Commander,
Allied Expeditionary Force

Some of the leaflets added a French propaganda message and the seal of France. Some of the leaflets were tactical like ZG49, which is entitled:

To the Survivors, soldiers and officers of the 7th Army

Others, like ZG21 depict Chapter 2; article II, of the Geneva Convention rules on treatment of prisoners of war. This was to tell the Germans how well they would be treated. These leaflets were dropped in massive numbers. For instance, just one leaflet, ZG61, had 65,750,000 copies dropped on the enemy. Some, like ZG61A were printed in a smaller size to be fired in artillery shells. The Allies did not only think in terms of individual soldiers. They also produced a larger leaflet of the same general type with all the seals and signatures, but this one to be used by an entire unit to surrender. On the left side of the document is printed: HAND IMMEDIATELY TO THE COMPANY COMMANDER. On the right side: SUBSTITUTE FOR A SURRENDER DOCUMENT.

A German Parody of the Allied Passierschein

The German High Command hated this leaflet. This is one of the few cases where they retaliated in kind. They actually produced a reproduction with a slight change in wording to say that any soldier surrendering would be in captivity for the next 10 years and very probably never see his parents, wife and children again.

There is a discussion of the effectiveness of the U.S. Psychological Warfare Leaflets in an article entitled "The Voices of Freedom," in Army Talk's, Vol. IV, No. 18, dated 16 September 1945:

Within a very few months after the landings In Normandy, American and British PW Interrogators were able to gather plenty of evidence to show that SHAEF appeals, by voice and leaflet, were getting results. In October 1944, it was officially reported that 77% of prisoners taken by the Allies had read one or more of the leaflets…About 80% of the prisoners taken on the Brest peninsula had leaflets in their Possession. On one occasion, three Germans surrendering had only one leaflet for the trio. They gave themselves up, each with one hand held high and the other clutching a corner of the precious document…Another German gave himself up with the statement that he had "a document bearing General Eisenhower's personal signature." In one day 44 men of the 256th Volksgrenadier division deserted to a Third Army unit and nearly all carried the Safe Conduct surrender pass.

Leaflet T/93 - Ei ssorrender

Sometimes less is more. I taught the U.S. Army Writing System and it used very short sentences and few three syllable words trying to make the sentences short, concise, and easily understandable. This leaflet is a prime example of that. It is just opposite of the leaflet above with the fancy text, signatures, and symbols. I see some leaflets, especially by the Russians and the Germans that go on and on endlessly. I think the average finder of such a leaflet would throw it away halfway through the text. And then we come to this beauty. It could hardly be shorter. It tells the German finder how to pronounce the words “I surrender,” spelling them in such a way that the German will have no problem saying the magic words. The same message is on the back but written diagonally instead of horizontally.

The leaflet was designed and disseminated by the Psychological Warfare Branch of the British 8th Army fighting in North Africa and later Italy against German troops. The leaflet says on the front and back:

This is the sound of the English and American words "I surrender." Make use of this if the opportunity arises.

   

A D-Day Ruse on a Leaflet? - Allied Leaflet ZG.4

Allied psychological warfare specialists were warned never to lie on their propaganda leaflets. If caught, the originator of the leaflet lost all credibility. However, in a special case where the stakes are high, the rule could be broken. Was this such a case?

This leaflet image was dropped twice, starting on D-Day and again shortly afterwards. It was first dropped on D-Day with the code “ZG.2” and the title “Four-Front War.” Six-hundred thousand copies of leaflet ZG.2 were dropped on the Germans from 6 June to 15 June 1944. The front of the large leaflet shows the invasion force labelled “Western Front,” the “Southern Front” in Italy, the “Eastern front” as the Russians advance, and bombs are depicted dropping on Germany labelled “Home Front.” The back has a long message telling the German forces of their nation’s peril due to the Eastern Front, Home Front, and Southern Front:

Catastrophe on the East Front, catastrophe on the Home Front, catastrophe on the South Front, and now the Allied landing in the west, the fourth front is opened.

A second version was coded “ZG.4’ with the title “Why?” 2,000,000 copies of this leaflet were dropped from 11 June to 15 June 1944. The leaflet said in part:

The Allied Expeditionary Army was landed on the British coast without the German air force intervening. Why? Many thousands of Allied ships were docked in the British ports without the German air force intervening. Why? The Allied Expeditionary Army reached the coast of France, without the German air force intervening. Why?

Rommel said: “Above all German fortifications, air superiority will make the difference, regardless of what the opponent chooses to do.”

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this leaflet is that the arrow showing the invasion route from the British Isles depicts the invasion landing at Calais. Since the leaflet was dropped starting June 6, the Allies were still hoping to convince the Germans that the Normandy landings were only a ploy and the real invasion would land further east. Intense use of the “double cross” counter-spy network by the Allies had convinced the German general Staff and Hitler that the Allies would take the shortest route and invade France at Calais. Instead, they landed further west at Normandy, over 150 miles from where they were expected. And Hitler believing the Normandy landing was a ruse held his panzers back for far too long. So, was this a simple mistake with the leaflet designer simply wanting to show the British landing on France, or was it a devious plot to make the Germans think that the British had made a terrible security blunder and accidently depicted the true point of invasion at Calais?

Who Erased a City?

I really like this American bomb-warning leaflet. In fact, I like the whole series of three, or four if you count the one with the erased city. All three of the leaflets were given the code 2106 by the Office of War Information although the code does not appear on the leaflet. They were originally designed on Guam by the U.S. Navy that did not code leaflets, and then forwarded to Saipan for printing and dissemination. Saipan gave them the numerical code but did not print it on the leaflet.

On the night of 9/10 March 1945, 334 B-29 bombers dropped 1,600 tons of cluster incendiary bombs on Tokyo. The raid cut Tokyo’s industrial output in half overnight, and the human cost was terrible. Postwar Japanese and American estimates put the total number of civilian casualties at over 200,000, with 100,000 killed outright, and the rest later from their burns, and over 1,000,000 homeless, making the March 9th raid the deadliest bombing raid in human history.

Air Force General Curtis LeMay was pleased with the effectiveness but appalled at the civilian losses and ordered that warning leaflets be prepared in the future. The very first leaflet had twelve cities listed, but the last-minute deletion of Tokyo left just eleven cities. From left to right the cities named on this 11-city leaflet are: Ujiyamada, Tsu, Kooriyama, Hakodate, Nagaoka, Uwajima, Kurume, Ichinomiya, Oogaki, Nishinomiya, and Aomori. The night after the leaflet was dropped, Tsu, Ichinomiya, Aomori, Oogaki, and Uwajima were bombed and left in ashes. This leaflet was dropped on the night of 27 July 1945.

The Original Leaflet with Tokyo Named as a target

Because there was no longer a need to bomb Tokyo, its name was deleted from many of the 886,000 leaflets that were dropped. As a result, many of those leaflets are found with a white circle indicating that a 12th city had been printed and then erased from the leaflet. This may be the only American leaflet dropped during WWII where a big ugly erasure appears on the front. I would image they preferred to reprint the leaflet, but the mission was ready to go so they just made an emergency erasure and dropped what they had.

“I Cease Resistance” (The Official Allied Safe Conduct Pass for Japan)

According to numerous sources, the Japanese did not have a word for "surrender" in their vocabulary. Worse, under their rules of Bushido, if they did surrender they were disgraced and lost from their family and ancestors forever. Regardless, the United States did produce early leaflets that said “I Surrender.” The Japanese apparently did have several words for “surrender” including “kosan” and “kofuku.” Whatever the word, the leaflet failed miserably. Japanese surrenders were rare.

In December 1944, the OWI discussed this very subject in the classified confidential Psychological Warfare, Part One, a handbook for its own agents that discussed the psychological and technical aspects of propaganda. Some of the comments are:

It must be emphasized again that the words surrender (kosan or kofuku) and prisoner of war (horyo or furyo) never be employed in propaganda. This is in conformance with the general concept that everything must be done to help the Japanese “save face.” If pictures of captured Japanese are used in leaflets, it is imperative that their features be obscured. The Japanese, it must be remembered, would rather die than have it be known that they surrendered. Even the most voluble prisoners, although perfectly willing to give intimate details concerning their army and navy, plaintively request that absolutely no word of their capture be relayed either to their family or to their government. Thus, only if the Japanese is made to feel that his surrender will be regarded as a personal matter and will not be publicized will he give serious attention to laying down his arms.

The early leaflets have no photographs on front, just text in English and Japanese. The text is:

I Surrender

Attention American soldiers

This leaflet guarantees humane treatment to any Japanese desiring to surrender. Take him to your nearest Commissioned Officer.

By order C.G. U.S. Forces

The first “I Cease Resistance” leaflet was coded 17-J-1 and depicted above. It is a large leaflet, 7 and 5/8 x 10 and 5/8 inches. It is brightly colored in red, white and blue. The text is in English and Japanese. There are six vertical lines of Japanese text. The English-language text is:

ATTENTION AMERICAN SOLDIERS!

I CEASE RESISTANCE

This leaflet guarantees humane treatment to any Japanese desiring to cease resistance. Take him immediately to your nearest Commissioned Officer.

By Direction of the Commander in Chief

There were dozens of such leaflets used by General MacArthur during his invasion of the Philippines. They proved to be very successful. Once the American psychological Warfare experts got busy working on the minds of the Japanese soldiers, things started to change. This was first noticed on Okinawa. The first large-scale use of PSYOP in the Pacific was the Okinawa campaign. The Office of War Information (OWI) working with the Navy on Saipan printed more than six million leaflets to be dropped on Japanese troops and Okinawan civilians. While in earlier battles the Japanese fought to the death or committed suicide rather than be taken prisoner, on Okinawa no less than 11,000 gave themselves up. With the proper message and wording the Japanese would surrender. I suspect that even the Americans were amazed at their own success.

The Office of War Information’s Leaflet 1006

One of the most attractive U.S. Navy leaflets is coded 1006. It was the first in a series of leaflets to be dropped over Japanese troops stranded on bypassed islands. The text is black brushwork on slick paper. The front depicts a beautiful plate of mixed sushi and other Japanese delicacies in full color. To see this leaflet is to salivate. The text is:

Your island has been isolated and cut off from all aid and supplies. You have almost no food and are slowly starving to death. You are as human as we are, and the thought of your hunger is far from pleasant.

If you are hungry and wish to have good food, indicate that fact by displaying a large visible cross along the southeast intersection of the airfield runway. We will then be able to help you.

How hungry were the Japanese? A Master Sergeant Blair quotes enemy soldiers in A Japanese Guadalcanal Dairy. An entry of 31 December 1942 states:

Since the 28th, not a single grain of rice has been distributed, and during this time, 3 pieces of hardtack were issued. Today there were 3 cigarettes and only a bit of the nutrition ration.

On 1 January 1943 an unknown soldier stated:

During the 3 days of the New Year on Guadalcanal Island, we have lived on one piece of hardtack, and this morning finally got one “GO” of rice. In the evening, one compressed ration was divided between two soldiers. Now we are eating rice gruel twice a day, and sleeping in the trenches as we are unable to walk. New Year's to us was just in name, for the day was spent suffering from bombardment and hunger.

Another comment is:

The contents of ant nests are good to eat when one is starving.

On 10 January 1943 we read:

Enemy bombardment becomes increasingly intense. We can hold out for one more week. My body is in such condition that I can barely walk. Food is 5 shaku [one-half go] of rice and some compressed rations. This makes 1 month that we have been eating just rice gruel.

Former Marine Private First-Class Fred Griffith recalls his unit, Marine Observation Squadron (VMO) 155 dropping this leaflet during WWII. He adds:

Our Marine fighter squadron was based on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands during the last year of the war. The squadron was originally supposed to be an observation squadron but was changed to a fighter squadron a few months after it was formed. The men were anxious to get into the battle, but instead, the squadron was used to train pilots before they were sent to the front to join a fighting unit. As part of their training the pilots flew missions against the many islands in the chain that were still occupied by the Japanese. Isolated Japanese forces held out on Wotje, Maloelap, Mili and Jaluit. These stragglers were supplied by an occasional enemy submarine. It was during these training missions right at the end of the war that the pilots strafed, bombed, and dropped the leaflets. The leaflets were placed in wooden boxes and attached to the bomb hooks on the F4U Corsairs and dropped on these runs. The fighters received some anti-aircraft fire on these missions but none of the aircraft were ever hit. Some of our dive bombers were hit and had minor damage during their training missions over the isolated islands.

The exact same image of a plate of sushi was used earlier on OWI leaflet 522. The text avoids any resistance to surrender by taking it for granted and by suggesting face-saving devices which permit the soldier to surrender with honor. It provides excuses that can be stored in the soldier’s subconscious mind and allow him to “fall into enemy hands” at some later date. Some of the text is:

Soldiers may, during wartime, fall into enemy hands. Through no fault of their own; but due to wounds, sickness, and lack of food he may fall into a semi-conscious state. He may be cut off from his comrades, or perhaps the enemy has won the battle…

If you come to the American camp, you will be treated well. You will certainly receive food and tobacco. If you work, you will be paid for it. Then after the war, you will be able to help rebuild your country.

Think about the study that went into this leaflet. I can imagine a group of experts sitting around a table and debating what food should go onto that plate to tempt the emaciated Japanese troops. What I like about this one is that the Japanese made a similar leaflet for the Americans but apparently no thought went into it at all.

A Dish of Salad for Hungry American Troops?

This leaflet depicts trapped American soldiers seeing their fleet destroyed in the distance by Japanese aircraft. They are starving and think of a luscious plate of…salad? Just as the American attempted to induce the Japanese to surrender with promises of fresh, inviting food, the Japanese retaliated with a very similar leaflet. What is interesting is that while the American leaflet shows a Japanese delicacy, the Japanese leaflet does not depict an American delicacy. If they had a better understanding of the American diet, they would have depicted a big steak, a ham, or a turkey. Instead they depict a salad, not exactly something a starving GI would relish. I believe that because of the choice of food this must be considered a “failed leaflet.” I doubt many Americans would throw down their arms and surrender for some apple slices, a tomato and God only know what that protein is. Notice also that the Japanese do not use the word “surrender.” They ask for a “Change of mind.” The text is:

Iron-rationed stranded.
Nothing but dog-biscuits.
Day after day, positively
How about a dish of salad like this?
For a change of diet...Just a change of mind.

Office of War Information Leaflet 411 for Japan

It may be too strong a word to say this is a favorite leaflet. It is dull and blah, but I admire it for what it is not, not what it is. It shows a Japanese woman with one breast exposed on the front. At first you would think it to be of a sexual nature, perhaps light pornography. But it is not. It is nostalgic, informative, and meant to lower the morale of the Japanese soldier. The back contains text in violet ink on a primrose paper, 5 x 8 inches in size. The text reads:

While you continue your futile resistance against our overwhelming might, your wives, sisters, and daughters back home are daily being reduced to prostitution. These are hard times for your farmers, and badly needed money is easily obtained by selling women to brothels. Factory workers, who now have money, are always eager to pay a few extra yen for a night's fun with women. When peace comes soon, times at home will be even worse. This will be true in all countries. Unless you are at home to care for your families, many of your dearest women will be forced to become prostitutes. Can you think without emotion of your wives, daughters, and sisters submitting to the lustful embraces of jeering workers? Don't throw away your lives in vain. Your families need you!

So, why is this leaflet special? Both the Germans and the Japanese prepared leaflets against the United States but they were highly sexual and based on their belief that Americans were weak and thought constantly of sex and therefore were vulnerable. The Japanese produced dozens of such leaflets, one showing an American soldier having sex with an Australian soldier’s wife, while the Aussie was depicted chasing a native woman through the jungle with his pants halfway to his ankles.

The Germans did the same sort of thing, showing an American soldier with a British trooper’s nearly naked wife and the text “Indeed an amusing war - for the Americans.”

It must have been very tempting for the American propagandists to produce the same sexual leaflets, but they were able to keep the official “white” leaflets clean and without any perverse leaflets. I must admit that the American Office of Strategic Services was creating horrible “black” leaflets for Germany which featured all sort of perversions, child molestation, bestiality, and the like. But that was all secret black operations and had nothing to do with the U.S. military. U.S. leaflets always had a certain morality.

Office of War Information Leaflet 2048

Frances Blakemore was an American artist who worked for the OWI in Honolulu. Her biography was titled An American Artist in Tokyo. She was a painter and print maker who travelled to Japan in 1935 to teach art and English. Sensing the coming war, she escaped to Honolulu in 1940 and avoided Japanese internment. Her first government job was in the Office of Censorship, but in June 1944, she was transferred to the Office of War

The Scream

Frances prepared about 50 leaflets, all very beautiful and colorful, many with sentimental themes for the Japanese. Leaflet 2048 is very different, printed just in blood red, and the Japanese civilians depicted are almost caricatures, like the character in the Edvard Munch 1893 painting, Skrik (“Shriek”), which Americans know as “The Scream.”

This 5 x 8-inch leaflet does not show the results of an American bombing. Frances cleverly moved the story to the earthquake of 1923 to remind the people of the horror and death that earthquake caused. Then she points out that an American B-29 bomb raid produces similar results, horror and bloodshed and death. The leaflet depicts fear-maddened masses fleeing the toppling flame-ridden buildings. Tokyo is falling and burning in the background. There is no text on the front. The text on the back says in part:

Do you remember the great damage done to your country by the earthquake of 1923? America can produce earthquakes that will cause damage a thousand times greater.

Such earthquakes will be brought in bundles from 2 1/2 to 4 tons. The bundles can destroy in 2 or 3 seconds the results of several years of struggle and hardship.

Note carefully the American style of Earthquake; feel the trembling of the earth when they are let loose. Your homes will be destroyed, factories will vanish, and your family will be killed.

Note carefully the American style of Earthquake; you will know the time it will occur. You will be experiencing it!

 

Germany’s Polish Corridor Propaganda Cards

At the end of WWI Great Britain and France punished Germany by giving Poland a path to the sea, thus dividing Germany into pieces. It was called the Polish Corridor and led to the Germans asking the West, “Would you die for Danzig?” The Germans believed that the Polish Corridor attacked their national pride and was cause enough to attack Poland. To make their excuses in advance to the Western nations they produced several postcards to show them what it would feel like to have a foreign corridor splitting their homeland. Postcards were produced for the United States, Great Britain, France, and Italy. This was prior to World War II, so Germany had not yet signed a pact with Italy.

The cards open to show two maps: one part depicts a map of the Polish Corridor through Germany. the other part depicts a map of a similar corridor dividing another country. The cards were first produced about October 1932. There is evidence that in 1939 some cards were mailed through regular postal channels, and some cards for England were air-dropped. The card for each country appears in two varieties, one with the boxed text typeset, the other with the boxed text having the appearance of being “hand-lettered.”

The “New England Corridor” double card for the USA shows a corridor across the Northeastern United States. The text is in English and the cards were first mailed to the United States beginning in 1932. The “English Corridor” double card shows a corridor dividing England across its narrow center. The “French Corridor” double card shows a corridor isolating southeast France. Finally, the “Italian Corridor” double card shows a corridor across northern Italy.

The above card asks the Americans:

What would you say if the United States of America were to be treated in this way and made to look like Germany does as shown on the accompanying map? Would the United States be willing to agree to such frontiers?

The British Postwar Blockade of Germany

Never Again

Most readers know that at the end of WWI, Great Britain and France treated Germany badly, charging them for the full cost of the war, taking away some territories and colonies, placing occupation troops on parts of their nation and placing a Polish corridor right through Germany to give Poland the city of Danzig and a port on the Baltic Sea. What is not generally known is that Britain also blockaded and starved Germany after the war from November 1918 until June 1919 even though peace had been declared. The German Board of Public Health claimed that 763,000 German civilians died from starvation and disease caused by the blockade through December 1918. In 1928, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace put the death toll at 424,000. The blockade was to force Germany to sign the Treaty of Versailles in June 1919.

During the so-called phony war (mid-1939 to spring 1940), when German and Allied forces faced each other with very little actual firing of weapons, the German psychological warfare organizations sent mail to people throughout the world telling of what the British had done. Germany printed an 8-page folded leaflet that mailed to the United States and Great Britain (and possibly Australia and Canada) blaming everyone else for the war. It depicted a skeleton-like German child starving on one page, a healthy child on a second page, three babies on a third page and 3 children at play on a fourth. The other side of the card depicted five photographs of both healthy and sick children. This was excellent propaganda and appeared to give Hitler a reason to build a German military force so that the children could never be illegally starved again. Some of the captions of the various pictures are:

A six-year-old boy wasted to a skeleton – a victim of the blockade in the Great War. This photo was taken in 1919. Who can call such methods of warfare humane?

The day is coming when the civilized world will utterly condemn the men who consider the starvation of a whole people a legitimate means of waging war. May the curse of innocent women and children light upon their heads, those despicable war-mongers, who stop short at nothing which can further their ends!

This is how they suffered, how they died of starvation in the Great War. But it shall never happen again!

Well fed, healthy and happy are the children in Germany today. Are they to be the victims of another blockade?

This 14-year-old scrofulous girl died of starvation in 1919. What had she done to harm Britain?

Not this time, Mr. Churchill!

Other propaganda letters accused the Poles of using poison gas against Germany, forcing the Germans to act; accused Great Britain and France of talking the Poles out of accepting the Hitler’s generous offer of peace; and claimed that Great Britain had planned to attack Germany as early as 1936.

The German Dunkirk Leaflet

This leaflet is so interesting because it could have led to the fall of Great Britain which would have meant American forces could not later mass there for the invasion of Europe, and Germany would have had free reign to fight a one-front war against the Soviet Union which it would have likely won.

Most people know that in the early days of WWII in May 1940, the British and French were fooled into moving forward and found themselves surrounded by German forces that had made an "impossible"” advance through the Ardennes Forest. The French believed that the Germans would need between 5 and 9 days to pass through the Ardennes and then at least 2 more weeks to cross the Meuse River. German armor reached the Meuse after 2.5 days, and one day later launched an attack to cross the Meuse. The British and French were trapped in the port city of Dunkirk. If the Germans had advanced, the entire British force would have been lost. Instead, Air Marshall Hermann Goring convinced Adolf Hitler that his Luftwaffe could destroy the forces. He was wrong. By a miracle, the British were able to send a fleet of ships and even small fishing boats and luxury yachts to save their army. by the time the evacuations ended, some 198,000 British and 140,000 French troops would manage to get off the beaches at Dunkirk—a total of some 338,000 men. They had little equipment, one researcher found that one machinegun was left in Britain the fight a German landing. All the other equipment stayed on the beaches. Early in the encirclement, the German confidently dropped this leaflet telling the British that they were surrounded, and their only hope was to surrender. This mistake is one of many that Hitler made that cost him the war. He was an untrained former low ranking enlisted man with none of the training and years of experience his generals possessed, but he always thought he was smarter than they were.

Korean War

 

Chinese-Language Leaflet 5502

This is a favorite leaflet of mine though to be honest it was a complete and total failure. I will explain at the end.

The previously classified report Guerrilla Operations 1952, published by the Headquarters, Guerrilla Division, Far East Command, Liaison Detachment, 8240th Army Unit, mentions the American desire for a MiG-15:

A complete MiG-15 is one of the highest priorities establish by the Air Force. The Air Force and Navy will offer support for any feasible project that will acquire a MiG-15. The MiG-15 technical orders are highly desirable. These are sometimes carried in the cockpit.

The United States entered the Korean War with mostly propeller-driven aircraft like the WWII P-51 Mustang and the Navy Corsair. They fought well but the Russian MiG-15, flown by North Korean, Chinese and even Russian pilots outclassed them. The F-80 Shooting Star and F-84 Thunder Jets were sent by the USAF to help, and although jets, were not quite up to the MiG. In December 1950, the swept-wing F-86 Sabre-jet finally arrived. It was the equal of the MiG-15. But, the Americans still wanted a MiG to test and find its weak spots.

There are several stories about how the leaflet came to pass but Edward Hymoff, Bureau Chief of the International News Service in Korea during the late stages of the war told me that during fall of 1952 he and General Clark were aboard a U.S.A.F. Constellation flying to Tokyo. They talked during the long flight and Hymoff mentioned his concept of offering $100,000 for a combat-ready MiG-15. The newsman recommended that the UN broadcast the offer in several languages. He also thought that the U.S. should offer asylum in the United States. Hymoff said “He (the defector) wouldn't have any worries the rest of his life, plus, he would be a rich man, tax free.”

The actual Leaflet depicted a MiG-15 on the front and was printed in blue or tan. There are slight variations in the wording of the leaflets, depending on which of the opposing forces is the target. The code number of the Russian-language leaflet is 5701 or 5703, The Chinese leaflet 5502, and the Korean leaflet 2508 or 2510. This probably means that there is a Chinese-language tan leaflet coded 5504. All the leaflets have the same general appearance. They are on a blue or tan-tinted paper and are about 8 x 10 inches in size.

The message on the front varies slightly but this is the general translation.

20 April 1953

To:   Brave Pilots of Jet Aircraft
Subject: A Road to Freedom

Pilots! The Far East Command offers its help to all brave pilots who wish to free themselves from the vicious whip of the Communist regime and start a new and better life, with proper honor in the Free World.

The Far East Command offers you refuge, protection, human care and attention. You are given full guarantee that your names will remain secret if you so desire. Pilots! Your brave move will bring you to freedom and will give you opportunity to live in the future without fear for your well-being. Besides that, your heroism and decision will help others by pointing to them the road to freedom.

The Far East Command will reward $50,000 United States dollars to any pilot who delivers a modern, operational, combat-type jet aircraft in flyable condition to South Korea. The first pilot who delivers such a jet aircraft to the Free World will receive a bonus of an additional 50,000 US dollars for his bravery.

Following is a list of instructions to all pilots who desire to free themselves from the Communist yoke. Escapee pilots will fly to Paengyong-do Island, fifty (50) kilometers south of Chodo Island. From Paengyong-do escapee pilots will proceed to Kimpo Air Base at 6100 meters altitude, descend over Kimpo Air Base, and proceed to make an immediate landing. UN Aircraft will accompany escapee remaining always above and behind, unless low clouds or visibility prevent escapee from locating Kimpo Airbase. If escapee is unable to make a visual let-down, he will proceed to the Seoul area at 6100 meters and circle with his gear down. A United States aircraft will then fly close abreast and lead the way to the landing field. Upon initial contact with UN Aircraft, or if at any time UN Aircraft attempts attack, escapee will immediately lower landing gear and rock wings violently.

The Free World shall welcome you as an old friend as well as a hero.

Mark W. Clark
General, United States Army Commander-in-Chief
Far East Command

Two USAF B-29 Super-Fortresses dropped more than one million of the reward leaflets along the Yalu River on the night of 26 April 1953. The Air Force dropped another half-million leaflets over Sinuiju and Uiju airfields on the nights of 10 and 18 May. At the same time, The United Nations beamed a concentrated radio attack at the Communists all along the "Bamboo Curtain." Fourteen radio stations in Japan and Korea stated in Korean, Russian, Mandarin and Cantonese Chinese that the United Nations would pay $50,000 dollars for a MiG and guarantee protection for the pilot.

I said at the start of this section that the leaflet was a complete failure. It was. Not a single MiG crossed the lines to collect the money. Worse, after the end of the war when a Christian North Korean flyer brought his MiG to South Korea to defect, he had never heard of the offer. He told me that the money was meaningless. Even if he had heard, he was from a society where everything was given to the pilot. He would have no idea what to do with the money or how to spend it.

So, why is this leaflet a favorite of mine? In my first tour I was a member of the USAF assigned to the 51st Fighter Wing, the Checker-tailed “MiG Killers.” After the leaflets were dropped the Reds grounded their air force for eight days. It might have been weather, or it might have been time needed to weed out the pilots who were liable to defect. Whatever the reason for the halt, there is no doubt that with the return of the MiGs, a new breed of pilot was behind the stick. The United States Air Force in Korea 1950-1953 says:

They were willing to engage in combat, but they had far more enthusiasm than ability.

They were the most aggressive, and by their record, the worst flyers of the entire war. In the ninety days following the Moolah (slang for "Money") broadcasts, The Allied air forces destroyed 165 MiGs at a cost of just three friendly aircraft. Young politically correct pilots flying MiG-15s attacked repeatedly only to fall in flames before the thundering guns of American F-86 Sabre Jets. This is a fantastic ratio of 55:1 in favor of the Fighter aircraft of the United States. The Air Force has compared these aerial battles to the "Marianas Turkey Shoot" of World War Two fame where the back of Japanese naval air-power was broken. Although we shall probably never know for sure, there can be little doubt that during those brief ninety days our enemy were young Communist Party members with more political reliability than flying ability.