Source 10

Loading the player...

All Hands (© IWM (UKY 249))

The film shows two women who work at a railway station restaurant and they are busy chatting. They give away a lot of information that would have been very useful if overheard by an enemy spy.

Sailor’s girl:

Can I come and see you off?

Sailor:

I’ll have plenty to say if you don’t

Younger tea maid:

Oh, I could almost cry I could really

Older tea maid:

Well nobody’s stopping you

Younger tea maid:

That poor sailor on the Cambridge, waited all this time for his girl, now he’s got to sail tonight, really those fellow’s in whitehall have no consideration

Older tea maid:

What has he got to go all the way to Liverpool tonight?

Younger tea maid:

Portsmouth, but it’s nearly as far

Older tea maid:

Sickening

Younger tea maid:

He’s got to be there by nine, he’s got no time for a film or anything

Older tea maid:

Well we’ve all got to do our duty, war is war

« Return to Government posters

3. Look at Source 10. This is a film called ‘All Hands’ made in 1940. Answer the questions below.

The film shows two women who work at a railway station restaurant and they are busy chatting. They give away a lot of information that would have been very useful if overheard by an enemy spy.

  • What jobs do these women do in the film?
  • What are they talking about?
  • How does the film make clear that they should not talk in this way?
  • Does the film closely match any of the ‘careless talk’ posters you have looked at?
  • Why do you think the film is called ‘All Hands’?
  • Do you think that the film or the posters are more effective in warning people about the dangers of ‘careless talk’? Give your reasons