To Encourage, Inspire and Guide

Abstract

This article examines the promotion of civil defence or ‘national service’ in interwar Britain. Analysing a recruitment campaign organised by the Chamberlain government in 1938–1939, it explores how civil defence was promoted in newspapers, posters, leaflets, guides, radio broadcasts, speeches and rallies, and how recruiters planned and executed the campaign. Existing literature has tended to focus on the role of national servicemen and servicewomen in wartime, but little is known about how these individuals were persuaded to join up before the war began or how national service was itself presented in the media. Through an analysis of official files, correspondence, advertisements and public relations, this article argues that the campaign for national service was not simply intended to attract new recruits, but to cement in Britain the notion that any future conflict would represent a ‘people’s war’ in which each citizen would contribute an equal share towards victory.