Fougasse (cartoonist)

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For other meanings, see fougasse (disambiguation).

Fougasse was the pen name of Cyril Kenneth Bird CBE, one of the greatest British cartoonists of the 20th century. He was born in London on 17 December 1887 and died there on 11 June 1965. 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. 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.