War-Time Magazines

A collection of war-time magazines intended for fighting countries' readers.

Signal was a modern, glossy, illustrated photo journal and army propaganda tool, meant specifically for audiences in neutral, allied, and occupied countries. A German edition was distributed in Switzerland and to various other countries with a strong German military presence, but Signal was never distributed in Germany proper. The promoter of the magazine was the chief of the Wehrmacht propaganda office, Colonel Hasso von Wedel. Signal was published fortnightly (plus some special issues) in as many as 25 editions and 30 languages, and at its height had a circulation of 2,500,000 copies. It was available in the United States in English until December 1941. The last number was 6/45, only known in one sample from the Swedish edition.

Yank magazine's first issue was published on June 17, 1942. The magazine was written by enlisted rank (EM) soldiers with a few officers as managers and initially was made available only to the US Army overseas. By the fifth issue of July 15, 1942, it was made available to serving members within the US, however, it was never made available on the newsstands for public purchase. YANK's circulation exceeded 2.5 million in 41 countries with 21 editions. The last issue was published on December 28, 1945.