WWII: Japanese Anti-American Propaganda in New Guinea

Mister Doughboy, Mister Doughboy,
Gee, what a guy! You sure look pie to me.

–Jack Davey

This may seem like a tangent before the post has really even started, but I am a big fan of the old TV show M*A*S*H, and watch the reruns broadcast on MeTV almost every weeknight. Several weeks ago an episode aired in which the characters of Hawkeye and Trapper John had to defuse an unexploded bomb that had fallen into the compound. There were some tense minutes, followed by the revelation that it was a propaganda bomb, and it showered the camp with leaflets advising surrender.

Although this television show depicts a different war than the one I am thinking of, the scene reminded me I needed to finish a blog post that I began long ago.

During the course of WWII, almost a million U.S. service personnel passed through Australia and New Zealand. Initially, the American allies were welcomed almost as saviors. The British, Australia’s traditional allies, had announced their intention to focus on protecting England, leaving Australians feeling defenseless against what seemed at the time a real possibility of Japanese invasion. The arrival of the American troops, therefore, promised much needed support for the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC). In addition to this, they represented an idea of glamour as epitomized by Hollywood.

“In some ways, these soldiers matched the Hollywood image: their manners impressed Australian women (calling women ‘Ma’am’ and men ‘sir’) and their uniforms were better looking than the baggy uniforms of the Australian soldiers.” (“Americans”)

In addition to impressing women with their manners and uniforms, the American soldiers were also better paid than their ANZAC counterparts, and had little to spend it on besides a search for a good time. Many of the Australian and Kiwi women began to prefer Americans socially for these reasons. It was not long before the sense of relief felt by the ANZAC soldiers changed into jealousy.

This was of great concern to the ANZAC troops stationed in New Guinea, far away from their wives and sweethearts. And this concern was seized upon by the enemy, who hoped to use it to destroy morale in the ANZAC camps. Now, as far as I have discovered, none of my near relatives served in the South Pacific; they all seem to have been in the European Theater, and certainly none of them were ANZAC; but soldiers in both theaters had a tendency to pick up souvenirs to take home. These souvenirs were often traded around. So, through some channel or another, my great-uncle Lowell Brosius ended up with a stack of gloriously illustrated and colored anti-American leaflets.

This first one portrays a languorous embrace leaning in to a kiss, worthy of a turn-of-the-century romantic picture postcard. The man in the picture is obviously an American soldier, with superfluous American flags scattered over his uniform. The dreamy colors and style of the main image are juxtaposed against a gory rendition of dead ANZAC soldiers under a ragged and broken flag. The words are equally jarring:

Hey! You diggers!
He came, he saw, he conquered!
Thinking you “diggers” will never come back
alive, tha BLACKS and tha YANKS are
raping your wives, your daughters, your
sweethearts—they’re helpless without your
protection. Your future happiness is at stake!
One less Aussie simply means one more Yank
“safely” in the home. Surely you’ll not give up
your lives to make this possible.

It is an unsubtle appeal to the fears and prejudices of soldiers far from home.

The second flyer is in an entirely different style, with bright colors and a sequential layout.

The first panel reads, “We were the happiest of couples,” and shows a well-dressed man and woman arm-in-arm and smiling at each other. The background is a bright, sunny yellow. The second panel reads, “Until our tearful parting, Oh! how she wept!” It shows what is apparently meant to be the same couple, but the man is now wearing an Army uniform. The woman is crying and they are tenderly embracing. Her fur stole, which she had been wearing in the first pane, is hanging on the man’s arm, and the background is a somber bluish green, with the edge of a curtain indicating that they are now indoors. The third and final panel reads, “But, no sooner had I left, my wife was told that I’d never come back.” The woman, whose bust size seems to have increased exponentially, is now dressed in a tight tank top and short, shiny skirt. She is smiling lasciviously as a man, obviously a different man than in the first two panels, sets her onto a very soft-looking bed. A death’s head in an Army helmet and the suggestion of a uniform watches grimly from the head of the bed. The implication is, of course, that as soon as she thought her man was not returning, she went right out and found herself someone new. This time there is no hint in the picture (or none that I can recognize) that the other man is an American. But the fear of cuckoldry remains.

The third flyer, headlined “Australia Screams,” sneaks in some titillation for its recipients. It is also my personal favorite (but not for that reason).

On the left, somewhat to the background, an Australian soldier stands, bandaged and with bent bayonet, on a blood-soaked New Guinea. The words above him read:

The Aussie: “What was that scream. Something up?”

He is looking toward Australia, whereon an American soldier has planted the Stars and Stripes and is holding a woman in his arms. The woman, quite unlike the women in the first two flyers, is trying to fight him off, and is (perhaps as a result of the struggle?) in a state of dishabille. Her skirt is draped down, exposing her undergarment, and her blouse is unbuttoned, exposing her... lack of an undergarment. One of her hands is pushing against her captor’s smirking face, and the other one is drawn back in a fist. The words above read:

The Yank: “Sh..sh.. Quiet, girlie. Calm yourself He’ll be on the next casualty list. No worry”

The finial from the American flag’s pole is sharper than the bayonet’s blade and pointed directly at the Australian soldier’s heart.

The fourth flyer again visits the idea of Americans as the assailants of Australia, but this time without the violation of women. Instead, it is more of a deathly violation of Australia itself.

“The Spectre Commands,” proclaims the title in red letters reminiscent of those used in the titles of eerie horror movies. The titular Spectre appears as a waxy greenish-faced President Roosevelt in the robes of the Grim Reaper. The text reads:

   Roosevelt
Thou shalt go, Americans,
and eat the Australians
out of their homes
if necessary......
   The Americans
will fight to the last
Australian.

This Grim Reaper/Roosevelt towers over a gruesome Australian soldier, blue with death, eyes unclosed and bulging. He has been stabbed in the abdomen by the staff of an American flag, and his blood has poured out profusely, dripping off the edges of the continent of Australia. His hand lifelessly dangles into the ocean, the butt of his rifle floating up enough to show that he still holds it, useless as it now is. In my opinion, this image is the most disturbing of all the flyers. The earlier ones, despite the racist and/or misogynistic overtones, at least provided some cheesecake or romance for the men to enjoy. But this one is downright repulsive, though oddly compelling.

Not all of the flyers attacked the relationship between the Australians and the Americans. Some worked instead on the frustration of soldiers with their current situation.

This one represents New Guinea as an “Island of Deceit.” It is a bit harder for me to describe, as so many uniforms are depicted, and I am not sure if I accurately recognize them all. But perhaps specificity is not vital in this case. The three cartoonish, frightened figures in the middle are certainly representative of the soldiers intended to receive this propaganda, shown to be surrounded by large, imposing enemies. The enemies are wearing Japanese uniforms and carrying what appear to be Samurai swords. There is no escape for the Allied soldiers, as their retreat is cut off in front and back by the giant Japanese soldiers, and to the sides by the ends of the minuscule island. The text reads:

They were a “pushover”--were they?
Supplies were coming--did they?
Enforcement were on the way--are they?
NOW, where are you?
You stand between horrible DEATH--
and--reasonable surrender!

Obviously, the only option for the unfortunate tiny soldiers in the picture is to surrender to the giant enemies. Or die.

The final flyer, although still grim in intention, is much lighter in tone. It is entitled “Jilted, Re-Jilted.” I presume the first jilting must have been by his sweetheart for some interloping American, since I cannot identify any double jilting within the strip. The re-jilting seems to have been by the Army, which marooned him on a miniature island in the Pacific.

The first panel is labeled “Elation,” where the soldier dances in delight at the sight of an American ship on the horizon, which could be his salvation. This is quickly followed by “Deflation” in panel two. The soldier reels in shock as the ship is hit by either a bomb or a torpedo and sinks. But hope has returned in panel three with “Anticipation.” The soldier shades his eyes to make out the identity of the four ships now on the horizon. Panel four is titled “Perdition.” The soldier flings back his entire body in dismay, losing his rifle in the process, as he sees that the four ships bear Japanese flags. Finally, he reaches “Exasperation” in panel five, as three Japanese cannons aim at him. In his exasperation, he raises his fists Popeye-fashion at some distant power, disregarding the cannons at his back. “That blankety-blank President and his two-cent Promises---” he rages.

These six examples of Japanese propaganda aimed at Allied soldiers during WWII provide a vivid glimpse of what sorts of concerns soldiers stationed in the South Pacific might have suffered, and how their enemies tried to exploit them. The brilliant artwork and occasionally awkward language was engaging enough for some soldier to save, and to catch the eye of Uncle Lowell. I would be curious to learn what item he had collected in Europe to trade for these gems.

Sources:

State Library of Victoria / Ergo, Ergo (http://ergo.slv.vic.gov.au : accessed 15 Jun 2018), “Americans in Australia.”

Australian Government Department of Veterans' Affairs, Anzac Portal (https://anzacportal.dva.gov.au : accessed 15 Jun 2018), Australia and the Second World War: “Yanks down under - ‘Over-sexed, over-paid and over here.’”