Children's Propaganda Games of the Second World War

Playing and Collecting Nazi and Allied War Games

Nicholas Milton

• Publisher: Pen and Sword History
• Year: 2024
• eBook ISBN:
  9781399061018
• Subtopic: World War II

From puzzles and cards to pinball and die games, find out about the children's games produced as propaganda during World War II. During the Second World War, hundreds of games were manufactured by the British, Germans and Americans aimed at children. Despite being cheaply made due to the wartime economy, the games were often fun to play and challenging to win. They also had considerable propaganda value helping to manipulate children into supporting the war. To get their attention, many of the games incorporated dramatic artwork and were based on real wartime events from the evacuation of children in 1939 to the dropping of the atomic bomb in 1945. This book features a large selection of different games produced by the British, Germans and Americans and tells the stories behind their wartime propaganda. The Nazis in particular prided themselves on producing games which promoted and glamourised war, exploiting children's patriotism and pride in German conquests. Some of their most insidious games included Juden Raus! (Jews Out!) and Bomber über England (Bomber over England). However, the British and Americans also produced unethical games like Target for Tonight which promoted the carpet bombing of Germany and Atomic Bomb, a dexterity puzzle about the nuclear bombing of Japan. The games featured in this book include roll and move games with a board and die, pinball and similar 'shooting' games, dexterity and other puzzles and card games. They were made out of paper, card, wood, rubber, bakelite plastic and initially metal. Remarkably despite wartime restrictions games were manufactured throughout the conflict to meet the demand from boys and girls as they closely followed the changing fortunes of the war. Today many of the games have become scarce so for collectors a guide to their value and rarity is included.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Foreword
• Introduction
• 1 Führer Quartett Spiel (Leader Quartet Game) (1935)
• 2 Feindliche Flieger in Sicht! (Enemy Planes in Sight) (1938) Aerial Attack (1939) /
• 3 Juden Raus! (Jews Out!) (1938)
• 4 Tak-Tik or Wehrschach Tak-Tik (1938)
• 5 Klar zum Gefecht! Das packende Flottenspiel (Ready for the Fight! The Fleet Game) (1938)
• 6 Vacuation (1939)
• 7 Astral Authentic Aircraft – British Planes for British Youth (1939)
• 8 Kurs Ost-Nordost! (Course East-Northeast!) (1939)
• 9 ARP (Air Raid Precautions) Design – New Circular Jig-Saw (1939)
• 10 Win A War – Extra Special (1939)
• 11 Who’s Who or Food for Thought (1939)
• 12 U-boat torpediert Kreuzer (Submarine torpedoes Cruiser) (1939)
• 13 We’re gonna hang out the washing on the Siegfried Line (1939)
• 14 Sea Battle! The Great Sunday Pictorial War Game (1940)
• 15 Luftwaffenspiel (Air Force Game) (1940)
• 16 Sea Raider (1940)
• 17 Kennst Du sie? … die Daten der Deutschen Geschichte (Do You Know That? Dates in German History) (1940)
• 18 Air Raid Menace (1940)
• 19 Die Gulaschkanone: Ein Heeres-Nachschub-Spiel (The Goulash Cannon: An Army Supply Game) (1940)
• 20 Flieger greifen an! (Airman Attack!) (1940)
• 21 Battle at Sea (1940)
• 22 Flieger und Flak (Flyer and Flak) (1940)
• 23 L’Attaque! (The Attack!) (1940)
• 24 Blacking Out the Moon (1940)
• 25 Soldaten-Leben heißt allzeit lustig sein. Ein heiteres Würfel-Spiel für Front und Heimat (Soldier’s life means always having fun. A cheerful dice game for front and home) (1940)
• 26 England Expects – The Great Naval Card Game (1940)
• 27 War Planes – A Card Game for Aircraft Spotters (1940)
• 28 Rafie’s Rollicking Trip to Berlin (1940)
• 29 Fallschirmjäger Spiel (Paratrooper’s Game) (1940)
• 30 Marsch in den Luftschutzraum (March into the Air Raid Shelter) (1940)
• 31 Bomber über England (Bomber over England) (1940)
• 32 GHQ (1940)
• 33 Monopoly (1940)
• 34 Black-Out (1940)
• 35 Wir Fahren gegen Engeland (We Drive Against England) (1940)
• 36 Stukas greifen an! (Stukas Attack!) (1940)
• 37 Bomber Command (1940)
• 38 The Game of Air-Sea Rescue (1940)
• 39 Hurricanes and Spitfires – Battles in the Air (1940)
• 40 Gloria-Viktoria – Das Taktische Kombinations-spiel (Glory-Victory – The Tactical Combination Game) (1940)
• 41 The Game of Commando (1940)
• 42 Fliegerstaffel auf Feindflug (Air Squadron on Enemy Flight) (1940)
• 43 Panzerkampfwagen vor! (Battle Tanks Forward!) (1940)
• 44 Siegreich voran! (Victoriously ahead!) (1941)
• 45 Benedicto or Beat the Blitz!! (1941)
• 46 Magnetic Minesweeper (1941)
• 47 Mit Prien gegen England (With Prien to England) (1941)
• 48 Target for Tonight (1941)
• 49 Land and Sea War Games (1941)
• 50 Adler-Luftkampfspiel (Eagle Aerial Combat Game) (1941)
• 51 Spot-a-Plane (1942)
• 52 Air Combat Trainer (1942)
• 53 Chase the Enemy (1942)
• 54 Squadron Insignia (1942)
• 55 Sink the Jap Fleet! (1942)
• 56 Radio-Sende-Spiel (Radio Broadcast Game) (1942)
• 57 Follow the Flag to Victory (1942)
• 58 Pre-Flight Trainer – Complete Cockpit and Course in How to Fly (1942)
• 59 The Battle of the Coral Sea (1942)
• 60 Learning to Fly in the Army Air Corps (1942)
• 61 The American Flag Game (1943)
• 62 Jagd auf Kohlenklau (Hunt the Coal Thief) (1943/44)
• 63 Air Attack – Fighting Planes in Action (1943)
• 64 Let ’Em Have It (1944)
• 65 Western & Eastern Hemisphere Global Puzzles (1945)
• 66 The Siege (1945)
• 67 Atomic Bomb (1945)
• Notes
• Sources