Kilroy was here
You might remember it as Mr Chad, Foo was here
“Kilroy was here”; the British figure usually said “Wot, no sugar?”
Biggest memes ever28 of 32
1939
A drawing of a bald man with a long nose looking over a wall, with the words “Kilroy was here”, left wherever American servicemen went in the Second World War.
At a glanceThe facts
- Remembered as
- Kilroy
- Spread in
- 1939
- Format
- Meme
- Made by
- Disputed. The words came from American servicemen; the drawing was known in Britain as Mr Chad
- What it said
- “Kilroy was here”; the British figure usually said “Wot, no sugar?”
- Origin
- No single original
- Available
- Not held by ViralWorld
What this wasThe story
A doodle of a long-nosed man peering over a wall with the words Kilroy was here, chalked by American servicemen on everything from landing craft to the Potsdam Conference. Reproduced without attribution, mutated locally, and recognised everywhere — the shape of a meme, in wartime.
Why it matteredWhat changed
The source calls it a meme of the Second World War. Its origin is still debated.
What people misrememberSet straight
Commonly remembered asOne man drew it.
ActuallyThe phrase and the face seem to have started separately, the face in Britain.1
Commonly remembered asHitler thought Kilroy was a spy, and Stalin asked who he was.
ActuallyBoth stories are told, and neither is verified.1
LegacyWhat it left behind
- It is carved into the National World War II Memorial in Washington.1
More from hereIn this collection
Why it is here: something the internet still knows by name · copied, redrawn and reused until the original stopped mattering · it got out of its own corner of the internet fast · still being watched and quoted years later
Where it came fromWhat we know
This spread through many posts rather than one identifiable original. The example shown is one surviving copy and is not claimed as the first.
Nothing here is claimed to be the first version of this. It spread through many posts rather than from one identifiable original.
Not established. This index only names a creator where the evidence supports it.
SourcesWhat was read
Sources last read on . That date is about the history on this page. Whether the media still plays is checked separately and can change any day. How ViralWorld documents things