Illingworth Cartoons on India from Daily Mail UK 1942,1946

Extra(9) A selection of cartoons published in the Daily Mail, UK, in 1942 and during 1946-1947 period, by Leslie Gilbert Illingworth (1902-1979)

From online 'Illingworth Exhibition' hosted by the National Library of Wales at http://www.llgc.org.uk/illingworth/index_s.htm.

Links to these cartoons are provided on this page. Click on links to view the cartoons directly on the National Library of Wales website.

Titles of cartoons and text of summaries and historical contexts from National Library of Wales catalogue.

Cartoons included:

New policy for India, March 13, 1942

New Indian policy, March 31, 1942

Move over, Marmaduke, this brute needs bringing to its senses, August 12, 1942

Three innocents in the jungle of India/Pakistan, February 25, 1946

Civil war and famine are heading towards India, March 19, 1946

Civil war and famine threaten India, May 14, 1946

Nehru rides the Indian elephant, September 2, 1946

Indian politics, November 29, 1946

Storm in Bihar, December 10, 1946

Free India, May 20, 1947

Partition plan, June 4, 1947

Race hatred, August 28, 1947

About the cartoonist Leslie Illingworth

Comment:
It is very interesting to see, through the eyes of a contemporary observer such as Illingworth, various events in the run-up to India's independence. From the clarity and detail displayed in framing the issues of the day, it appears that he followed events closely.

New policy for India, March 13, 1942 (click on link to view)

Summary: Women are standing in doorways of a row of houses marked "Ceylon" and "India". The row is on fire, and the the fire has reached the house marked "Burma". A man marked "Cripps" is running along the street holding a document marked "New policy for India".
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New Indian policy, March 31, 1942 (click on link to view)

Summary: Three hunters, riding on elephants marked "Congress", "Moslems" and "Princes" are hunting a tiger marked "Indian disunity". Sir Stafford Cripps is waving a flag marked "New Indian policy", and is shouting "Now's your chance".

Historical context: On March 29 1942, Sir Stafford Cripps, special envoy from the Cabinet, unfolded British plans for full independence for India when he met Mr Gandhi in New Delhi. He produced a draft declaration which, if accepted by an Indian constituent assembly, would mean Indian self-government after the war. The sub-continent could be either one Dominion, or two, if the Moslems prefereed that. There would be special arrangements for territories ruled by the Indian princes.
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Move over, Marmaduke, this brute needs bringing to its senses, August 12, 1942 (click on link to view)

Summary: An aristocrat and a soldier are riding an elephant called 'Congress' which is out of control. The aristocrat with the words ' Velvet Glove Govt' on his clothing is struggling to control the beast while the soldier is climbing out of the box on the elephant's back and is saying to the aristocrat ' Move over, Marmaduke, this brute needs bringing to its senses'. A tiger with Japanese features is hiding in the grass nearby.

Historical context: August 9, 1942 - Gandhi and other Indian leaders were arrested following pro-independence riots.

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Three innocents in the jungle of India/Pakistan, February 25, 1946 (click on link to view)

Summary: An elephant marked "Congress" is facing a snake marked "Moslem league". Underneath the snake is a tiger marked "Famine". In the distance, Sir Stafford Cripps and Hugh Dalton are leading a small sailor marked "IMF" towards them.

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Civil war and famine are heading towards India, March 19, 1946(click on link to view)

Summary: Two lines of travelers are waiting at an airport. One line is marked "UNO" and contains people representing world famine and world war. The other line is marked "Passengers for India" and contains Victor Alexander, Stafford Cripps and Frederick Pethick-Lawrence.

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Civil war and famine threaten India, May 14, 1946(click on link to view)

Summary: Stafford Cripps, Gandhi and and Mahomed Ali Jinnah are up a tree discussing the Indian constitution in safety, as a woman marked "India" with a child is clinging to the base of the tree fleeing from a tiger marked "Civil war" and a wolf marked "Famine".

Historical context : On May 16 1946, Attlee announced plans for an independent united India.
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Nehru rides the Indian elephant, September 2, 1946 (click on link to view)

Summary: Archibald Wavell waves off Nehru, as he prepares to drive the elephant, marked "India". A woman is sitting in a Howdah on the elephant's back, and Mahomed Ali Jinnah is tying explosives to the elephant's tail.
Historical context: On September 2nd 1946, Nehru's cabinet is sworn in.
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Indian politics, November 29, 1946(click on link to view)

Summary: Jinnah as a cricketer defending a tiger labelled 'Pakistan'. A cow labelled 'Hindu Intransigence' is crushing a man labelled 'Untouchables', and 'Nehru' and others are arguing in the background.

Historical context: India's Constituent Assembly, which is due to hold its first meeting on December 9, was attacked by both Hindus and Moslems today. Mr Jinnah, the Moslem League leader, said he would boycott the Assembly and described it as "one more blunder". "It is quite obvious", he said "that the Viceroy is blind to the present serious situation and is playing into the hands of Congress". At the same time the Congress leader, Pandit Nehru, was telling his followers that the only good thing about the Assembly was that "Britain will not be directly represented on it".
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Storm in Bihar, December 10, 1946(click on link to view)

Summary: A map of Indian provinces. Thunder and lightning cover 'Bihar'.
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Free India, May 20, 1947(click on link to view)

Summary: Gandhi, and a group of protesters, including a US sympathiser, are holding placards demanding that the British get out of India. All around them are the bodies of those who have died of hunger or civil war.

Historical context: On May 23 1947, the British cabinet took the step of agreeing to Lord Louis Mountabatten's proposal for the partition of India into two states, one Moslem and the other Hindu.
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Partition plan, June 4, 1947(click on link to view)

Summary: Mahomed Ali Jinnah is fanning the flames of a fire. The black smoke marked "Race riots" is reaching up into the sky as Earl Mountbatten attempts to extinguish the fire with an extinguisher marked "Partition plan".

Historical context: On June 2 1947, a fire at a rubber dump in Mitcham, London blots out the sun in the area and on May 23 1947, the British cabinet took the step of agreeing to Lord Louis Mountbatten's proposal for the partition of India into two states, one Moslem and the other Hindu.
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Race hatred, August 28, 1947(click on link to view)

Summary: A man, marked "Race hatred" with a sword has caught hold of a woman, marked "Minorities" who has run away from the riots in the streets to an office where there is a paper marked "Renunication of British sovereignty".

Historical context: During August 1947 10,000 are believed to have died in border clashes in the Punjab in India.
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About the cartoonist:

Leslie Illingworth
1902-1979

"Leslie Gilbert Illingworth was born in Barry in 1902. He attended Cardiff Art School and then took a job with the Western Mail. He was then awarded a scholarship to Slade School of Art, and after completing his studies, returned to Cardiff to work for the Western Mail as a cartoonist. Illingworth joined the Daily Mail in 1939, and drew cartoons that were to lift Britain's morale during the Second World War, commenting on Churchill's leadership and Allied military victories. After the war ended, Illingworth was able to concentrate more on domestic issues in his cartoons, but kept a keen eye on foreign affairs, especially when they related to Britain.

He became Chief Cartoonist for the satirical magazine Punch in 1945, but remained with the Daily Mail until his retirement in 1969. He died in 1979."

Text of biography from Illingworth online exhibition hosted by National Library of Wales here:

http://www.llgc.org.uk/illingworth/index_s.htm