'Good life - Good pay in the Regular Army', 1950-1959 (c)

Recruiting poster printed in the United Kingdom, 1950-1959 (c).

The poster shows soldiers of the East Yorkshire Regiment in an armoured vehicle in Germany; one is holding a map of the area. At the time, the main deployment for armoured units was with the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) across West Germany.The BAOR was created in 1946 to help forestall any Soviet attack through the German plains. It was a massive British commitment and at its peak numbered around 80,000 soldiers.

The BAOR's tank personnel lived under the constant spectre of nuclear war breaking out and having to face the massed armoured formations of the Warsaw Pact. In the event of war, it was estimated that the life expectancy of a British tank commander was around 36 hours.