F07_P02: Great Britain Declares War on Nazi Germany Psychological Warfare, Propaganda Counterfeit
c. 1940s, Front side - Post card from British Military, RAF dropped over Germany.
Tan post card with printed text in German using black ink. Also present as the post card outline. Cursive handwriting in black ink appears at the right side. An orange-brown 3-pfennig stamp depicting Adolf Hitler is seen at the top right.
Name/Title
F07_P02: Great Britain Declares War on Nazi Germany Psychological Warfare, Propaganda CounterfeitEntry/Object ID
2007.7.2Scope and Content
c. 1940s, post card from British Military, RAF dropped over Germany.Context
On September 3, 1939, two days after Germany invaded Poland, Great Britain declared war on Germany. Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain formed a new war cabinet, with Winston Churchill as First Lord of the Admiralty (Navy Minister) and Anthony Eden as Secretary for the Dominions. Churchill and Eden had been the leading opponents of appeasing Adolf Hitler. To undermine the morale of German civilians, a British secret psychological warfare propaganda operation employed this counterfeit German stamp and post card. Special Operations Executive master spy and psywar expert Sefton Delmer conceived the plan and masterfully carried it out. The text of the card accused Nazi housing minister Robert Ley of securing luxurious quantities of fine food for himself and other dignitaries (quoting a supposedly secret directive, actually made up by Delmer), and contrasted that allegation to Ley's declaration in the press that every Nazi official, himself included, "must live from his ration card like the simple worker." The post cards were addressed by hand, and dropped from the air over Germany during bombing raids. Nazi officials were compelled to issue a public denial of the false story planted by the British.Collection
Nazi Scourge I: Primary ExhibitionCategory
Post Card
Philatelic Material