Fascinating thread, by the way.
1942: Unarmed combat
The young woman is a soldier in the ATS (auxiliary territorial service) is demonstrating what she has been taught in unarmed combat. I suppose her ‘victim’ is her father. She looks strong enough to carry it off. Were the ATS really trained in unarmed combat? I think it is unlikely but the thought made an amusing cartoon.
1942: She became a wren
It was usually young men who ran away to sea. Here the man’s wife had simply volunteered to join the WRENs (Women’s Royal Naval Service. The ‘joke’ lay in the fact that the husband is clearly a member of the upper middle class and she is not an officer. He has no problems with that. How democratic.
I wondered how you could have such an understanding of the cartoons Mr Magoo… then I saw on the age thread that you lived through it… makes sense. 
Yes, I did Summer. It was an exciting time to be growing up. Thank you for your comment.
1944: Planning for D Day
By 1944 all minds were concentrated on the forthcoming invasion of Europe. Here the ‘joke’ is the relevance of an astrology article in a daily newspaper.
1942: Interpreting the target
Another unlikely scenario!
I do remember seeing a large number of heavy bombers flying low on a late summer evening over London. Clearly the intention was that by the time the main force would reach the enemy coast there would be complete darkness.
During this stage of the war it was considered important for Britain to be doing its bit. Royal Air Force Bomber Command was the main way that this was demonstrated.
1942: Shortages
Shortages were very frequent by 1942. The shopkeeper would not have known where the next shortage was about to occur.
1942: Conforming to type?
This surely is a charming scene. This stylish young woman is about to take a snap with her box camera of her young man in his uniform. She senses that he (and his posture) does not live up to the general expectation of the tough British Tommy who is about to invade Europe. In fact, many never did conform to that image.
1942: Salvage drive
Emmett here is being quite whimsical! There is no elaborate machinery being exhibited here. We were all encouraged to collect all our salvage. At school I remember that we were expected to bring in any salvage that we could find. This official interest was to reduce the need for imported materials.
The participants here seem to be engaged in a frolic. No motor vehicles are involved. Petrol was very strictly rationed. You needed a special reason to get any at all. Doctors on call, for instance, qualified.
1942: Protecting the ruins
This sort of thing might really have taken place. If you did not want your ruins to be further damaged you would need to protect them. They would also need to have been rather important to justify all this protection.
1943: What indeed?
I suppose the answer was obvious at the time. Was it a blanket, or a carpet, or perhaps a curtain? The point is that efforts were being made to cope with shortage of new materials.
1943: Military Law
Fairly strong satire at work here. Lacking the long established traditions of the Navy and the Army, the newcomer RAF was often treated to this kind of humour.
We might well wonder what kind of offence has been committed. The accused, by the way, is the one not wearing his hat.
1941: Wartime badges for the boy scouts
HEs are, of course, high explosives. The badges were meant to show proficiency in dealing with different kinds of bombs. I am fairly confident that no such badges actually existed.
1943: Food again
I can’t imagine that I would have said that at the time. Food was a frequent subject of conversation. This joke implies that the boy is going to eat that potato with reluctance. Really? As I remember it would have gone my throat with enthusiasm.
1942: Woman at work
Many women were employed as riveters in the munitions industry. Here we see one who has tried to mix business with pleasure.
That made me chuckle…
1943: Saving the heating fuel
The fire would definitely have been a coal fire. This was also rationed. The two groups of people all used their bicycles in order to reach each others’ home. Petrol was only available to people who had official need, such as doctors on call.
1941: Aggressive Shopping
I do not remember this sort of shopping during the war. I was often sent off to queue on Saturdays when I wasn’t at school. Queuing was a way of life when so many things were in short supply. I obviously can’t say that this sort of thing never happened but I can say that I never witnessed it.
1942: Fire watching
As I remember it fire watching occurred on premises of importance. The principle behind this practice was that incendiary bombs could be rendered harmless if someone was on hand to extinguish the flames immediately. Sand buckets and a water supply were on hand but someone had to there to use them. People used to take turns to perform this function. Like a lot of wartime activities there was frequent boredom with occasional frantic and dangerous activity.
The joke here is that at a conventional upper middle class dinner the ladies would leave the dining room to ’powder their noses’ while the gentlemen would smoke their cigars and drink their brandies. Here the custom has been altered. Instead of joining them in the drawing room they would be joining them on the roof.