1941: Not easy to find a joke
Civilians coping with heavy air raids are an unlikely source of humour. The cartoonist here is trying too hard and hasn’t succeeded.
Hope all is well with you Mr. M? I’ve missed my daily fix of your cartoons.
Me too.
Blinking heck fellas he only missed a day…it’s allowed 
Perhaps what we’re saying is, “We hope he’s OK.”
I’m OK. I just forgot to post. At my age it’s allowed.
1943: Getting round the restriction
I can well remember the official exhortation that we should run the bath on only five inches of water in order to conserve fuel. A further nugget from that time is that we were told that the king also only had five inches in his bath. The portly gentleman in this cartoon has tilted his bath so that what was five inches has become a lot more. This is not plausible but it works quite well as a joke.
1945: Ground crew in the RAF
The RAF ground crews had to maintain the planes to make them completely airworthy. Once in the air there was no chance for running repairs. Here David Langdon makes the humorous suggestion that bicycle repair is on a par with aircraft maintenance.
1945: The warrior’s return
The corporal has come home after the war. He expects that his family will listen to his story with rapt attention. He has come armed with visual aids consisting of German soldiers’ equipment. He has not expected any competition from his family each of whom also wants to tell their wartime experiences.
1942: Yankee boasting
This cartoon is a not so subtle dig at the American tendency to boast about everything that comes from their side of the Atlantic. This conversation would not really have taken place but the cartoonist uses this fiction to address the real resentment of US boasting that would manifest itself from time to time.
1944: Anticipating D Day
Many allied soldiers were based in the UK prior to D Day. It was normal for them to wear their nationality on the shoulder. A Polish and a French officer a looking at identical books called ‘Polish up Your French’. The Polish officer is clearly seeking to improve his school learned French. But what is the Frenchman doing? He surely seeks to ‘polish’ (rhyming with whole-ish) up his French. He would probably want to do this in order to communicate with his Polish comrades. It’s a subtle point but presumably it was appreciated at the time.
1945: Anticipating victory
Anton’s subjects are usually well heeled. The persons in this cartoon fall also into the same category. Having tended her allotment to reduce reliance on what is available now she feels that with victory she can move over to something that is more attractive.
1944: Unjustified optimism
In the autumn of 1944 a wave of optimism arose with people expecting complete victory before the end of the year. Arnhem and the Battle of the Bulge put a stop to such hopes. Final victory in Europe was delayed until May 1945.
1944: Planning for after the war
As confidence grew that the victory was assured a lot of thought was given to what would happen after the war. Memories of what followed the end of World War One were quite acute. It was felt that members of the armed services should engage in the discussion. Some commentators have said that this was the cause of the Labour Party’s landslide victory in the 1945 General Election.
1944: Planning for after the war
As confidence grew that the victory was assured a lot of thought was given to what would happen after the war. Memories of what followed the end of World War One were quite acute. It was felt that members of the armed services should engage in the discussion. Some commentators have said that this was the cause of the Labour Party’s landslide victory in the 1945 General Election.
If it’s worth saying once, it’s worth saying twice! 
:-)
Oh, er. I thought something had gone wrong. I didn’t twig what it was. Better luck tomorrow!
Sorry again about what happened yesterday. It was a senior moment.
1946: After the war…
There was some disappointment for many service personnel returning to their civilian occupations. Although the personal danger was no longer present, neither was the overpowering sense of purpose
Welcome to my world MrMagoo
1946: After the war … the weather
Peace time preoccupations are back. Crazy weather reminds us that weather can play tricks on us at any time.