Cyril Kenneth Bird, pen name Fougasse (17 December 1887, London
- 11 June 1965, London) was a
British cartoonist best known for his
editorship of Punch
magazine and his iconic World War II
warning propaganda posters.
The son of
Arthur Bird, a company director, he was educated at Cheltenham
College
and King's College London
(B.Sc). While at King's College he attended evening
art classes at the Regent Street Polytechnic
and at the School of Photo-Engraving in Bolt
Court. On 16 Sep 1914 he married Mary Holden Caldwell.
He was seriously injured at the
Battle of Gallipoli during
World War I and invalided out of the British
Army (his pen name is based on the
fougasse, a type of mine). He first
contributed to
Punch in
1916, while convalescing, and also contributed to several other
British newspapers and magazines, including
the Graphic and
Tatler. In the course of the 1920s and 1930s,
his drawings evolved from the traditionally representational to an
innovative, spare, style that was both unique and popular,
featuring in many advertising campaigns as well as in magazine
editorial. He became art
editor of
Punch from 1937 to 1949, then editor until 1953. He was
the only cartoonist ever to edit the magazine. During
World War II, he worked for free for the
Ministry of Information,
designing humorous but effective
propaganda posters
including the famous "
Careless Talk Costs
Lives" series. For this work he was awarded the honour of
Commander of the Order of
the British Empire in 1946.
He illustrated and co-wrote several humorous books with
W. D.
H. McCullough. These included the very
successful
Aces Made Easy – or Pons
asinorum in a nutshell, on the subject of
contract bridge, in 1934, and
You Have
Been Warned – A Complete Guide to the Road, in 1935.
References
Obituary
The Times 14 June 1965 page 12
col E
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