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(18) Page 28 - From an observation post

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Blighty and Sea Pie > Blighty > Christmas, 1917 > (18) Page 28 - From an observation post

(18) Page 28 - From an observation post
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Permanent URL	https://digital.nls.uk/74462184
Description	Cartoon by Rifleman F. Exton. This cartoon shows a panic-stricken look-out atop a rather precarious, shell-damaged observation tower, staring down, in some alarm, as two large artillery shells head straight for the tower. The cartoon appears to be designed in the style of a standard postcard that soldiers often sent home to their relatives to let them know where they were posted. In the top left corner of the cartoon, there is a menu of choices that the sender can select to indicate his current state of health. This could be a subversive snipe at the censorship of soldiers' letters, given the way in which the postcard's satirical menu of pre-written phrases all support the concept that everything is going extremely well. The main joke of the cartoon centres on the double meaning of the common military expression that appears on the postcard, 'I am being sent down to the base, soon' - with the emphasis on 'down'.

Form / genre:	Images > Pictures > Cartoons (commentary) Images > Pictures > Illustrations > Periodical Illustrations
Subject / content:	Fear Soldiers Towers (single built works) Shells (ammunition) Observation decks
Person / organisation:	Exton, F. [Illustrator]
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Christmas, 1917
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Dates / events:	1917 [Date published]
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Blighty
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Description	A humorous weekly magazine issued free to the troops in the First World War; contained short stories, poems, cartoons, paintings and drawings, with contributions from men on active service. Distributed by the War Office, the Admiralty and the Red Cross, and subsidised through donations and sales to the general public.
Shelfmark	6.84

Form / genre:	Written and printed matter > Periodicals
Dates / events:	1916-1920 [Date published] World War, 1914-1918 [Date/event in text]
Places:	Europe > United Kingdom > England > Greater London > London (inhabited place) [Place published]
Subject / content:	Humor
Person / organisation:	Walbrook & Co. [Printer] Walbrook & Co. [Publisher] Committee of Blighty [Publisher]
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Blighty and Sea Pie
Description	Editions of 'Blighty' (1917, 1918) and 'Sea Pie' (1917-1919), First World War magazines with pictures, stories, poems and humour. 'Blighty' was sent free to the men at the front and in the fleet. Profits from sales of 'Sea Pie' went to help sailors and their families.