Paper Bullets

"Paper bullets: How they Beat the Jap" was an instructional booklet issued by The Psychological Warfare Branch (PWB) of the Allied Forces in the Southwest Pacific Area in 1944. The booklet gave step by step instructions to U.S. artillerymen on how to load the propaganda leaflets properly into an artillery shell and how to fire them to Japanese troops.

The booklet asks a question, meant to be in the voice of Allied troops: "What the hell kind of war is this firing leaflets to the enemy? Nobody ever got killed with a hunk of paper. " The text explains to the artillerymen how firing leaflets at the Japanese was just as useful as firing actual shells. The PWB wanted Japanese troops to surrender and provide useful information to the Allied Forces, which they argued could expedite the end of the war.