Kilroy was originally a piece of military hand-drawn graffiti popularized in World War II (1939–1945) that depicted the bald head, eyes, and long nose of a man peeking over a wall or fence with the fingers of his hands on each side, under which was written “Kilroy was here.” This drawing was often chalked, painted, scratched, or carved and could be found on naval ships, army vehicles, including trucks and tanks, weapons, bombed enemy defenses, and historical buildings. The legend of Kilroy was spread by American soldiers and naval personnel throughout the war, becoming an essential aspect of World War popular culture among Allied service personnel. As a result, the inscription noting “Kilroy was here” proliferated on walls throughout Europe, Africa, and Asia. Following the conclusion of the Second World War, Kilroy became a well-known part of popular culture in the United States, appearing in movies and TV shows, and it would later be spread by servicemen during the Korean War (1950–1953). The meaning and origins of the Kilroy doodle are debated and often conflated amid the number of urban and military legends told about it. Regardless, credit was eventually given after the war to James J. Kilroy (1902–1962), a naval shipyard inspector at the Quince Fore River facility in Halifax, Massachusetts, who, according to legend, was known to write “Kilroy was here” on all parts he checked for the navy.
While the first American inscription is believed to have been created between 1937 and 1942, its origins remained a mystery and the source of oral traditions within the American forces throughout the conflict. As a result, in 1946, following the conclusion of World War II, the Transit Company of America sponsored a competition to discover the identity of the real or original Kilroy. While a number of individuals claimed to be the originator of the cartoon, it was James J. Kilroy, supported by testimony from naval shipyard inspectors from Halifax, Massachusetts, who was able to provide proof that the inscription was his inception. As a result, the Transit Company of America awarded James Kilroy a trolley car and the New York Times credited him as being the originator of the popular slogan. However, debates regarding why James Kilroy began signing his name have persisted.
One version of the story suggests Inspector James Kilroy wrote “Kilroy was here” in response to rivet workers, who were paid by the number of pieces installed and who were caught erasing the chalked inspector’s marks in an attempt to get more pay. In response, James Kilroy would write his name, rather than simply marking each part, to ensure that his inspection was neither erased nor copied. A second version of the tale suggests that Kilroy, tired of being asked to reinspect ship parts, military vehicles, and tanks, simply began to sign directly on them. Another urban myth maintains that James Kilroy, frequently unable to find the appropriate inspection reports, simply signed parts of the ship, vehicles, and tanks to confirm that they had been properly examined. It has also been speculated that the final graffiti doodle, which was popularized during World War II, was the result of a merger between the popular British “Mr. Chad” drawing and the slogan “Kilroy was here” from the Quincy shipyard.
Regardless of James Kilroy’s reasons, owing to the speed of production and limited supplies during the war, these inscriptions and confirmation of his inspection were frequently not painted over prior to the ship and vehicles being deployed. As a result, naval and military personnel soon began to find this inscription in improbable and impossible to reach locations and took it as a sign of good luck confirming that the equipment was safe. The location of these markings also added to the mythos and mystery of the icon, and American servicemen quickly became fond of the popular cartoon, transforming it into a symbol of achievement, encouragement, and accomplishment. As a result, thousands of service personnel began copying this monogram, spreading it throughout the armed services by placing it on American military equipment, battle sites, and buildings throughout the world. Indeed, it soon became something of a challenge among armed services personnel to be the first to place the Kilroy cartoon or draw it in unlikely locations.
While the presence of this cartoon on buildings and regions may have simply been the result of military personnel copying the popular culture of the period, its likeness served as encouragement and a means to bolster the morale of American servicemen by inferring that their counterparts had already been there and survived. As such, the drawing of Kilroy soon came to infer, for many, the superiority of American soldiers, suggesting that there was no place so distant or well defended that the U.S. military could not or would not be able to secure it. The Kilroy inscription also served as a source of mystery and frustration for Nazi and Japanese intelligence officers of the period, who soon came to attribute the markings as code to Allied agents or reference to some type of Allied super soldier. Indeed, military reports indicate that Adolf Hitler became so concerned about these markings that he ordered agents to capture and eliminate Kilroy.
The popularity and proliferation of “Kilroy was here” throughout the American armed forces during the Second World War reflects the accidental creation and symbolism of a simple cartoon. As a result, Kilroy is considered one of the most popular and influential cartoon inscriptions of the era, since it was easily copied, recognized, and disseminated throughout the conflict. It has since entered into the culture of the armed forces and into American popular culture. Since World War II, Kilroy has been rumored to have been drawn on the wall of a washroom at the Potsdam Conference (1945), as well as inscribed into the Berlin Wall, Statue of Liberty, Mount Rushmore, and even on the Moon.
The presence of Kilroy can be detected in American music, and the figure has been referenced in TV shows, movies, theatre, literature, and other forms of popular culture. The drawing of the Kilroy cartoon has also remained a tradition in the U.S. armed services and could be found in various places around the world during the Korean War (1950–1953) and in Vietnam (1955–1975), Iraq (1991, 2003–2011), and Afghanistan (2001–). Kilroy is frequently equated with or compared to Mr. Chad, a British doodle; Foo, an Australian cartoon from the First World War (1914–1918); Smoe in Africa; and Herbie in Canada.
Sean Morton
See also Gremlins; Uncle Sam; Urban Legends/Urban Belief Tales; Yankee Doodle
Further Reading
Brown, Jerold E. 2001. Historical Dictionary of the U.S. Army. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
Donald, Graeme. 2008. Sticklers, Sideburns & Bikinis: The Military Origins of Everyday Words and Phrases. Oxford: Osprey.
French, William. 1945. “Who Is Kilroy?” Saturday Evening Post, October 20, 6.
Kennett, Lee. 1997. G.I.: The American Soldier in World War II. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
Kilroy, James J. 1947. “Who Is ‘Kilroy’?” The New York Times Magazine, January 12, 30.