Bombers Deliver the Goods to Hitler's Occupied Europe. Tempo of Burmese War Rises. Where the Seams of Jap Conquest Are Beginning to Rip.
- Title:
- Bombers Deliver the Goods to Hitler's Occupied Europe. Tempo of Burmese War Rises. Where the Seams of Jap Conquest Are Beginning to Rip.
- Alternate Title:
- [Stars & Stripes Maps]
- Collection:
- Persuasive Maps: PJ Mode Collection
- Creator:
- Swan, C.D. [Curt]
- Date:
- 1944
- Posted Date:
- 2024-04-25
- ID Number:
- 2548.01
- File Name:
- PJM_2548_01.jpg
- Style/Period:
- 1940 - 1959
- Subject:
- Pictorial
World War II - Measurement:
- 3 maps: Europe (20 x 29); Burma (15 x 17); and Pacific (21 x 57); all on a sheet 45 x 62 (centimeters, height x width)
- Notes:
- This set of three cartoon maps was no doubt intended to boost morale. It was published in the London edition of Stars & Stripes, the newspaper for American servicemen, four weeks before D-Day in 1944.
Each of the three maps combines humor with a message of successful operations. In Burma, "Col. Phil Cochran's troops . . . are raising hell with Jap communications." In the Pacific, "Gen. MacArthur applied nutcracker to 60,000 Japs on New Guinea" (complete with image of nutcracker), while Lord Mountbatten's fleet "hits Japs' western island flank for first time, blasting shipping, harbor installations, warehouses and oil tanks."
For the soldiers in Britain, the developments in Europe were no doubt of most interest. "Our Eighth Air Force alone destroyed 1,300 German planes in April . . . and hundreds more were bagged by the RAF" and others. "We raided Berlin with 1,000 heavy bombers by daylight," and in Stuttgart, "Bombs almost hit Hitler." Significantly, along the potential landing sites on the western coasts of France are scenes of "Invasion Defences Pounded" and "5 Rail Lines Smeared."
The maps were drawn by a young army artist, barely out of high school, named Curt Swan (C.S. Swan on the maps). Through a stroke of luck, he became a staff illustrator for Stars & Stripes in London early in the war and continued in that position until 1945. After the war, on the recommendation of a wartime colleague, Swan landed a job as an illustrator for DC Comics in New York. By 1970, he was "the principal artist on some of DC Comics' biggest titles, Superman and Action Comics," and "for the next two decades, he determined the appearance and atmosphere of the Superman universe and its cast of characters." As a result of his work, he is today "probably the artist most often associated with Superman." Admodt 2013.
Cornell University Library is pleased to present this digital collection of Persuasive Maps, the originals of which have been collected and described by the private collector PJ Mode. The descriptive information in the “Collector’s Notes” has been supplied by Mr. Mode and does not necessarily reflect the views of Cornell University. - Source:
- Stars and Stripes, May 4, 1944.
- Format:
- Image
- Rights:
- For important information about copyright and use, see http://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/copyright.