'To Arms !'

This poster was designed by Leonard Raven-Hill (1867-1942) and published by 'Punch' in September 1914.

In addition to recruiting posters published by the government, many privately owned companies and local organisations printed their own designs in support of the war effort. This poster is based on a cartoon which originally appeared in the satirical magazine on 2 September 1914. It depicts the character of Mr. Punch, dressed as a recruiting-sergeant, with a government proclamation calling for an additional 500,000 men pasted to the wall in the background.

The artist, Leonard Raven-Hill, was a regular contributor to 'Punch' and, together with other well-known pre-war cartoonists and illustrators (including John Hassall, Bernard Partridge, Bert Thomas and Alfred Leete), designed several wartime posters encouraging men to join the armed forces.