Poster, 'Duty Calls The Youth Of New Zealand'

item details

NamePoster, 'Duty Calls The Youth Of New Zealand'

ProductionC.M. Banks Ltd.; printing firm; 1942; Wellington

Classificationpolitical posters

Materialspaper, printing ink

Materials SummaryThree colour block printed text over half tone offset lithographic image on paper

Techniquesoffset lithography

DimensionsOverall: 505mm (width), 755mm (height)

Registration NumberGH014037

Credit lineLoan from Mr C.H. Andrews, 1967

Overview

This is a recruitment poster designed and printed in World War II. 'Duty Calls The Youth of New Zealand' is an invitation to young New Zealanders to join the Air Training Corps, which was founded in 1941 to make sure there were enough future recruits to fill Royal New Zealand Air Force ranks.

The Air Training Corps
Boys between the ages of sixteen and a half and eighteen years were eligible to join. In March 1942 the age limit was extended to boys aged from sixteen to meet the anticipated need for larger numbers of recruits at a later date. By April 1942, 140 cadets had applied for service with the RNZAF and the first hundred were mobilised in June. These cadets became part of the over 40,000 men and women who served in the RNZAF during World War II.

Significance
The survival of such ephemera is rare, and it illustrates that youth were targeted as part of New Zealand's overall war effort. The poor condition of this poster indicates that it may have been displayed outside.