Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 5

John Godfrey Bernard Worsley
1959 UK Army Recruitment poster, Join the New Regular Army Wireless Operator

1959

About the Item

John Godfrey Bernard Worsley (1919-2000) - attributed A Soldier of the Queen - Join the New Regular Army Original UK Army recruitment poster c. 1960 75x501cm Printed for H.M. Stationary Office by Leonard Ripley & Co. (1959) We have other similar recruitment posters listed. This image is titled 'A Royal Signals Technician Repairing a Radio' and the original oil painting is in the Royal Signals Museum in Blandford Forum. A wireless operator is shown working illuminated by a light. Wireless had advanced a long way since the Battle of Arnhem in September 1944 - immortalised in 'A Bridge Too Far' where an inability to communicate with the paratroopers on the ground owing to faulty wireless equipment was a major contributing factor to the failure of the operation. Even today the challenge of operating in enemy territory is considerable. Worsley was a war artist during World War II who was captured by the Germans and then an illustrator for Eagle comic. John Worsley was an artist and illustrator who served in the Royal Navy during World War II, became a war artist, was captured by the Germans – the only official war artist to suffer this fate – and was invaluable in a prisoner of war camp as a forger and creator of a dummy, ‘Albert R.N.’ later the subject of a 1953 film of that name. Having studied Fine Art at Goldsmiths’ School of Art Worsley became a commercial illustrator. Following the start of World War Two, he served in the Royal Navy spending three years escorting convoys in the North Atlantic and the North Sea. In November 1940 he was serving on HMS Laurentic when it was torpedoed, and he was rescued from an open lifeboat subsequently producing a painting of the scene. Thus brought to the attention of the War Artists’ Advisory Committee he became an official war artist. In 1943 he was captured whilst on an island in the Adriatic recording the activities of a party of saboteurs. Imprisoned at Marlag O he created the head of Albert R.N., a dummy made from papier maché, a wire frame and human hair. Albert’s eyes were made from ping pong balls, and – thanks to a device created by Lt-Cdr Tony Bentley-Buckle involving a pendulum made from a sardine tin – ‘he’ could blink and move his eyes. Following the escape of a prisoner, Albert stood in for him at roll calls for four days. In 1953 a film, ‘Albert R.N.’ was based on this tale, and Worsley made the head of the dummy used in the film. Following the war John Worsley continued to paint for the Navy. The Imperial War Museum has sixty-one portraits by him, and the National Maritime Museum a further twenty-nine. Latterly he worked for the children’s papers Eagle and Girl, most notably illustrating the comic strip The Adventures of PC 49. P.C. Archibald Berkeley-Willoughby’s story appeared on page three, directly after the Dan Dare lead cartoon. Amongst Worsley’s other commercial work is a series of Army Recruitment posters, in an inspired feat of recruitment as his style would have been instantly recognisable to the potential recruits who would have been brought up on Eagle.
  • Creator:
    John Godfrey Bernard Worsley (1919 - 2000, British)
  • Creation Year:
    1959
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 29.53 in (75 cm)Width: 19.69 in (50 cm)Depth: 0.04 in (1 mm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
    Closed edge tears and pin holes, generally very good.
  • Gallery Location:
    London, GB
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU79532498753

More From This Seller

View All
1943 Vultee Vengeance World War 2 aeroplane recognition poster pub. US Navy RAF
Located in London, GB
To see our other original vintage propaganda posters, scroll down to "More from this Seller" and below it click on "See all from this Seller" - or send us a message if you cannot fin...
Category

1940s Modern More Prints

Materials

Lithograph

1943 Royal Air Force DH Mosquito aeroplane recognition poster pub. US Navy
Located in London, GB
To see our other original vintage propaganda posters, scroll down to "More from this Seller" and below it click on "See all from this Seller" - or send us a message if you cannot fin...
Category

1940s Modern More Prints

Materials

Lithograph

1943 Royal Air Force Airspeed Horsa Glider aeroplane recognition poster US Navy
Located in London, GB
To see our other original vintage propaganda posters, scroll down to "More from this Seller" and below it click on "See all from this Seller" - or send us a message if you cannot fin...
Category

1940s Modern More Prints

Materials

Lithograph

1943 Focke-Wulf FW 190 Würger Luftwaffe World War 2 airplane recognition poster
Located in London, GB
To see our other original vintage propaganda posters, scroll down to "More from this Seller" and below it click on "See all from this Seller" - or send us a message if you cannot find the poster you want. US Naval Aviation Training Division Focke-Wulf Fw 190 - World War II aeroplane Aeroplane identification poster, 1943 63x47cm A particularly unusual style of aeroplane identification poster, owing to the very arty images. Most such posters rely on very plain silhouettes, this series - and we have several in this series - have a much more arty approach to the task with shading and an interesting angle view. The Würger (in English, Shrike) is a single-seat single-engined fighter airplane widely used during World War II by the Germans. Designed in 1936 over 20,000 were built, beginning operations in August 1941 outclassing the Spitfire Mk V...
Category

1940s Modern More Prints

Materials

Lithograph

1943 Junkers Ju87 Stuka Dive Bomber Luftwaffe US aeroplane recognition poster
Located in London, GB
To see our other original vintage propaganda posters, scroll down to "More from this Seller" and below it click on "See all from this Seller" - or send us a message if you cannot fin...
Category

1940s Modern More Prints

Materials

Lithograph

1943 Dornier Do 217 Luftwaffe World War 2 US airplane recognition poster
Located in London, GB
To see our other original vintage propaganda posters, scroll down to "More from this Seller" and below it click on "See all from this Seller" - or send us a message if you cannot fin...
Category

1940s Modern More Prints

Materials

Lithograph

You May Also Like

Six Reclining Figures with Red Background
By Henry Moore
Located in New York, NY
A wonderful image in the the artist's signature style, with strong, fresh colors. Henry Moore was an iconic modern sculptor. This lithograph reveals his sculptural working process.
Category

1980s Modern More Prints

Materials

Color, Lithograph

Original Northwest Orient and Trans World Airlines vintage travel poster
Located in Spokane, WA
Original poster: NORTHWEST ORIENT AIRLINES, TRANS WORLD AIRLINES poster. Description There’s a New Way Around the World / Northwest Orient Airlines – Trans World Airlines. Circa 1...
Category

1950s American Modern Landscape Prints

Materials

Lithograph

1939 Pierre-Joseph Redoute 'Anemone Simplex'
By Pierre-Joseph Redouté
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Mourlot Lithograph page from Pierre-Joseph Redoute's book: Choix des plus belles fleurs et de quelques branches des plus beaux fruits: Dédié les princesses Louise...
Category

1930s Modern More Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Original Washington D.C. American Airlines vintage travel poster Midcentury
By Edward McKnight Kauffer
Located in Spokane, WA
Original Washington (D.C.) American Airlines mid-century vintage travel poster. Professional archival linen backed in very fine condition, ready to frame. Featuring one of the ...
Category

1940s American Modern Landscape Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Jean Cocteau - Portrait - Original Lithograph
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Collonge Bellerive, Geneve, CH
Original Lithograph by Jean Cocteau Title: Taureaux Signed in the plate Dimensions: 40 x 30 cm Edition: 200 Luxury print edition from the portfolio of Trinckvel 1965 Jean Cocteau W...
Category

1960s Modern More Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Homage to Albrecht Durer" by Salvador Dalí, 1971
By Salvador Dalí­
Located in New York, NY
This original lithographic poster by surrealist painter, Salvador Dali pays tribute to Albrecht Durer, a German painter and printmaker renowned for his religious iconography. Dali ...
Category

1970s Modern More Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Recently Viewed

View All