The 2 great military conflicts of the 20^th century also reflected a battle between industrial output (and technological advance). With the fall of France in June 1940, Hitler had Occupied Europe as his factory and its subjugated people as his workforce. Britain, with her Empire & Dominions, continued the fight for freedom, but with the mainland in the frontline and subject to disruption of bombing manufacturing was hard-put to keep pace with demand.

The first advert for Lockheed is dated May 1941 and shows American production already going towards Britain’s war effort. Following Pearl Harbour the might of American industry shifted gear to full war production. Every sphere of industry, even to Coca Cola, supported the war effort.  The following ads, to me, are all classic images - from the Atlantic convoy to the radio operator in the Far East.

As a result of war time rationing that even went down to the level of restricting the use of paper and coloured inks there are unfortunately no comparable images from Britain.