Falling Leavesby SGM Herbert A. Friedman (Ret)
A general history of U.S. PSYOP aerial leaflet warfare.
Leaflet Drops in America's Conflicts, 1917-2007 by Jared Tracy
Aerial leaflet drops on enemies, neutrals, and civilian populations is an afterthought in American airpower historiography. Airpower historians have traditionally preferred topics such as strategic bombing, tactical ground support, airpower's place in national strategic planning, and the like. But since the introduction of the airplane into combat operations in the early twentieth-century, American civilian and military officials have ordered leaflets to be dropped with bombs. Historians have not sufficiently explored the topic of leaflet drops conducted independently of or in conjunction with actual combat operations. Therefore, because comprehensive studies of leaflet drops are scarce, an historical overview of the topic will add an important dimension to the study of the projection of American airpower in its conflicts...
15 (UK) PSYOPS Group Annual Report 2007/2008 The British 15 (UK) Psychological Operations Group has just published its first Annual Report which highlights its activities over the last year. The group has been heavy committed in Iraq and Afghanistan and has greatly increased its technical capabilities over the year.
FIRST WORLD WAR
Department M.I.7(b) Official report on the work of department M.I.7(b) during
WWI. Crown Copyright, 1920. (PDF File, 89Kb)
Distribution
of Propaganda by Air, 1914-18
By Captain Morris. Official report written circa 1920 on leaflet dropping during WWI and more specifically on the court-martialling of captured British Airmen by the German authorities for disseminating subversive leaflets. (PDF File, 714Kb)
The Aerial Distribution of Propaganda to the Enemy
A report by Captain P. Chalmers Mitchell, M.I.7b(4), 23rd February 1918, describing methods of aerial propaganda leaflet dissemination, including details of the experimental "Fire Balloon", effects of propaganda and German counter-propaganda.
Aerial Propaganda Methods of Distribution
A report by Captain P. Chalmers Mitchell, of MI7(b)4, dated 12th March 1918, summarising the current methods of distributing aerial propaganda leaflets over the German front line in World War I. The report looks at dissemination by aircraft, balloons, kites and rockets.
War Cabinet Memoranda - Publicity in Enemy Countries
British Government War Cabinet memoranda reporting on psychological warfare to Germany between 1939-1940. Most were written by Sir Campbell Stuart, head of Department EH. They discuss the effects of the dropping of propaganda leaflets on Germany, relations with France and with the Press, propaganda policy, and other aspects of the propaganda war. (PDF File, 381Kb)
German Propaganda Balloon
From the booklet Objects Dropped from the Air - Air Raid
Precautions Training Pamphlet No. 2.
Issued by the Ministry of Home Security, 1941.
R.A.F.
Against Goebbels
A well illustrated official PWE Publication issued to RAF aircrew to explain the
value of propaganda leaflet drops,
Crown Copyright, 1942. (PDF File, 4.5Mb)
Functions of the 5th Army Combat Propaganda Team Report
A 1944 official report on the work of the 5th US Army Combat Propaganda Team, part of the Psychological Warfare Branch (PWB/AFHQ), in Italy during World War II. The report covers propaganda leaflet design, printing, and firing by artillery shell. As well as describing their own work, the report covers Nazi propaganda leaflets dropped over the front lines in the 5th US Army sector and reactions of Enemy Prisoners of War (EPW) to Allied aerial leaflets.
Report on PWB/AFHQ - Bari
An official report on the activities of the Political Warfare Executive Sub-Mission Bari – later known as the Psychological Warfare Branch, Bari – from its formation in January, 1944 up to mid-October, 1944.
News as a Weapon
Air-dropped leaflet newspapers Frontpost and Feldpost of the Twelfth United States Army Group, Western European Theatre of Operations.
Bilder für die Truppe, Dezember 1943, Nr. 5 Pictures for the Troops - An illustrated Wehrmacht High Command leaflet showing German soldiers how the enemy
retouches photographs for propaganda purposes. (PDF File, 2.8Mb)
British Black Propaganda - Operation Periwig by Lee Richards Early in World War II Britain’s secret services soon concluded that it would be impossible to organise an anti-Nazi resistance within Germany itself. As they could not create a genuine resistance organisation they decided to fabricate one by using black propaganda, fake signals traffic, dropping supplies to non-existent reception committees and persuading a few hapless German Prisoners of War to be parachuted into the heart of the Third Reich. Perhaps the German authorities could be panicked into believing they were in mortal danger of being overthrown by their own people or at least encourage a few anti-Nazi Germans to take up arms against their Nazi bosses. This is the story of Operation Periwig.
Sir Stafford Cripps and the German Admiral's Orgy by Lee Richards Sir Stafford Cripps' outrage at the pornographic nature of the clandestine black radio station Gustav Siegfried Eins (GS1) is well known. All the major histories dealing with British psychological warfare throughout the Second World War make mention of Cripps complaint to the Foreign Secretary, Anthony Eden, concerning one of the station's more disreputable broadcasts. None of the previous histories, however, tell the full story as until very recently Cripps' correspondence with the Foreign Secretary has remained secret. Following a Freedom of Information request by PsyWar.Org to the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, over sixty years later, this correspondence has now finally been released for public scrutiny.
Propaganda and Espionage Philately by SGM Herbert A. Friedman (Ret) Herb Friedman has been researching and writing about propaganda and espionage philately for five decades. He now gives an overview of this fascinating and complex subject in this internet article. It is colourfully illustrated with some of the rarer and more interesting propaganda and forged postage stamps produced by all sides throughout World War II.
Whispers of War - The British World War II rumour campaign by Lee Richards Black propaganda rumour-mongering was employed to help defeat the Third Reich and a special Underground Propaganda Committee was established for the task. This is the story of the UPC and the rumours (sibs) they spread across the world during World War II.
Conversations with a
Master Forger by SGM Herbert A. Friedman (Ret) How Herb Friedman managed to meet PWE's
forger after 20 years searching.
Operation Sauerkrautby SGM Herbert A. Friedman (Ret)
The Office of Strategic Services
(MO) black propaganda Operation Sauerkraut.
Obituary - Edmund F. Lindner During WWII Ed was part of the Morale Operations Company of the 2677th OSS Regiment in Italy. As such, he helped plan and organize Operation Sauerkraut, a campaign to use volunteer German prisoners-of-war to bring American propaganda behind enemy lines.
British Black Propaganda Operation BRADDOCK by Lee Richards A joint Special Operations Executive (SOE) and Political Warfare Executive (PWE) operation to supply foreign workers in Germany with concealable sabotage weapons.
MALAYAN EMERGENCY 1948-1960
Psychological
Warfare of the Malayan Emergency, 1948-1960 by SGM Herbert A. Friedman (Ret)
The article is lavishly illustrated with a great variety of aerial propaganda leaflets dropped throughout the Emergency and fascinating photographs from the period.
Psychological Warfare in the Federation of Malaya
by Major R.J. Isaac, HPWS
Official memo for the Federation of Malaya Defence Secretary about Psychological Warfare technique, dated 19th February 1955.
The Psychological
Warfare Section, Federation of Malaya
An official British Government report on the organisation of the Psychological Warfare Section, the Federation of Malaya, in 1957. The PsyWar Section was responsible for the production of Anti-Communist Terrorist air-dropped leaflets and for the writing of surrender appeals and other messages for broadcast by Royal Air Force “Voice” aircraft over the Malayan jungle. (200Kb)
Psychological
Warfare in Malaya
An article by Flight Lieutenant A. F. Derry, MBE, discussing psychological warfare activities against Communist terrorists during the Malayan Emergency; c.1955,
publisher unknown. (4Mb)
Stop Press of the Jungle
An article by Flight Lieutenant H. G. Haines, O.C. Voice Flight Detachment, No. 52 Squadron, RAF, about the use of "Voice" aircraft broadcasting propaganda messages to Communist terrorists hiding out in the Malayan jungles; c.1960,
publisher unknown. (0.7Mb)
KENYA - MAU MAU UPRISING 1952-59
PSYOP of the Mau Mau Uprising by SGM Herbert A. Friedman (Ret)
The so-called Mau Mau Uprising was a brutal episode in Kenya's history. Throughout most of the 1950's Mau Mau gangs, formed predominately from members of the Kikuyu tribe, waged an insurgency against the British colonial Government seeking independence and the return of their traditional homeland. Most of the Mau Mau gangs' violence was directed towards fellow Kikuyu who were loyal to the British and towards a smaller number of white settlers. The Government responded with extreme force and innovative counter-insurgency techniques to crush the uprising. Psychological warfare played a part in putting down the Mau Mau and cleansing them of the Blood Oath.
ADEN EMERGENCY 1963-1967
PSYOP of the Aden Emergency by SGM Herbert A. Friedman (Ret)
The Aden Emergency was an insurgency against British crown forces in what is now the Yemen. It lasted from 10 December 1963 when a "State of Emergency" was declared until 30 November 1967 when British forces left. The emergency began when members of the National Liberation Front (NLF) carried out a grenade attack against the British High Commission which killed one person and injured fifty. In this new article Herb Friedman analyses British psychological operations against the nationalist dissidents in Aden during the Emergency.
RHODESIA 1965-1980
Rhodesian PSYOP, 1965-1980 by SGM Herbert A. Friedman (Ret)
This article documents psychological operations directed against the black population of Rhodesia by the Smith government during their control of the country between 1965 until 1980.
PSYOP of the Falkland Islands War by SGM Herbert A. Friedman (Ret)
"The Falkland Islands are approximately 8000 miles from Britain and the only major island group in the South Atlantic, about 300 miles east of Argentina and the continent of South America in the Strait of Magellan. There are two main islands, West and East Falkland and more than 100 smaller ones. The Buenos Aires government, which had declared its independence from Spain in 1816, claimed sovereignty over the Falklands. Britain began settling the islands and declared a colonial administration in 1842. Argentina never recognized the claim and historically has demanded that the islands be part of that nation..." In 1982 the Argentine military occupied the islands thus provoking war with Britain. Herb writes a detailed account of the small-scale British PSYOP campaign conduct during the short campaign.
Propaganda leaflet drop video over Mosul, Iraq
This is a great video of an actual US PSYOP leaflet drop over Mosul, Iraq on the night of January 28th, 2005. The leaflets were disseminated over market areas of the city and gave details of local polling stations for the January 30th election. (The video is around 4 Mb).
