Poster, 'Army Week'

This fund-raising poster was illustrated by commercial artist Robert Buckley Dobson (1924-1992) who was stationed at the Featherston prisoner of war camp during the Second World War.

Design
The poster is an emotionally charged call for New Zealanders to give money to the war effort. Diagonal composition was a common visual device in war posters, as seen in this dynamic image of a soldier throwing a grenade, which is in perfect harmony with its message - 'Throw YOUR weight into the 3rd Liberty Loan'.

Loans
After 1940, the National Savings Committee raised substantial annual internal loans based on voluntary public subscription to pay for the war. Many New Zealanders lent their money to the government, to be repaid after the war at modest interest rates. Most of the loans were called 'Liberty Loans' (this particular poster advertised the '3rd Liberty Loan' of 1943).

Significance
Nearly half of the country's war spending was covered by internal borrowing. New Zealand had no outstanding overseas debt as a result of World War II. Posters such as this made intense appeals, often through guilt, to New Zealanders' sense of patriotism and sacrifice.