The First World War (1914 to 1918) was the first conflict in which aviation played a major role and when aerial reconnaissance from aircraft, balloons and airships, became a threat.
The enemy could observe armaments, buildings and troop movements from above and plan military tactics accordingly.
The French were the first to practice basic defensive camouflage at the start of that war: units of camoufleurs painted weaponry and vehicles with disruptive patterns to blend into the environment, and taught military units how to disguise structures and vehicle tracks from aerial surveillance with leaf-covered netting and painted tarpaulins.
The British Army School of Camouflage was founded in 1916 and based in London’s Kensington Gardens. The school explored methods of deceiving the enemy on the Western Front.
However, it was the threat of targeted bombing attacks on Britain by the Luftwaffe (the German air force) in the Second World War (1939 to 1945) that led the British military to use the concealment and deceit of camouflage in more sophisticated and strategic ways.
In some cases, the aim was to deceive an enemy aircraft as it approached from several miles away: from such a distance, camouflage – which appears very basic when viewed from directly above – stopped a potential bombing target standing out.
Deceiving Enemy Bombers
Throughout the Second World War, several committees were established to co-ordinate British camouflage policies and practices. Members were drawn from government ministries and departments, along with the Air Ministry, Armed Forces and Admiralty, but no central body had sole responsibility.
In 1940, the three services each established camouflage branches. Camouflage training manuals were widely issued and all military personnel received basic training. Virtually everything of military significance in Britain was camouflaged, including vehicles and even entire airfields.
RAF Staverton’s airfield was camouflaged to create a rural-type landscape. As pictured above, an imitation lane was created to snake diagonally across the airfield and the tarmac runways.
Boundaries mimicking hedges were painted on the grass: these show as the black line across the runway, and at bottom left and right. Parts of the runways themselves were painted with a pattern of irregular dark shapes, probably to simulate woodland.
The Kilburn White Horse dates from the 1800s and is visible for miles around. In the peaceful interwar years Germany led the world in the sport of gliding and many German glider pilots would have been familiar with the horse when visiting the local gliding club, at the top of Sutton Bank, in the 1930s.
With the outbreak of war, the authorities feared that the Luftwaffe would use the horse as a known navigational landmark for bombing raids, so camouflage was essential. It was partially covered during the war to break up its outline and make it less distinguishable from nearby rocky outcrops.
This aerial image shows the curve of the River Ouse, marked by the white of its raised flood banks. Camouflaged netting 200 yards long is visible in its central section. This would have hidden any vessels from enemy reconnaissance flights.
It is probable that the camouflaged section was constructed as part of the preparations for the Allied raid on the French port of Dieppe on 19 August 1942. The majority of the 5,000+ troops who took part in Dieppe embarked from nearby Newhaven and the netting could have camouflaged moored landing craft used in the raid.
Yeadon Aerodrome opened in 1931 as a civilian airport, but was taken over by the military during the Second World War. Just to the north was a factory belonging to Avro, the British aircraft manufacturer of the famous Second World War Lancaster bomber.
The image above shows three of the aerodrome’s large hangars, camouflaged to break up their regular outlines. The runway, partially visible in the top left, has a false hedge line painted across it in an attempt at camouflage.
Luftwaffe Aerial Surveillance of English Bombing Targets
Luftwaffe bomber crews were issued with folders that included an annotated aerial photograph of the intended target, along with a precise location and description.
The British Gloster Aircraft Company (GAC) was founded around 1915 and manufactured fighter aircraft. During the war their factories would have been a prime enemy target.
German intelligence knew exactly where GAC’s factories were, possibly from pre-war aerial surveillance. The word ‘Flugzeugzellenfabrik’ at the top of the page translates as aeroplane factory. Despite the elaborate camouflaging of the roofs, the original factory to the left (‘Altes Werk’) and new factory to the right (‘Neues Werk’), outlined in red, were clearly targets.
The pictured Luftwaffe aerial photo is titled: ‘Flugplatz’ – airfield. It is ringed in red as a target and within that, specific buildings and sites are numbered, named and also outlined in red.
Number 1 shows where aircraft were parked (‘Abstellplätze für Flugzeuge’), 2: Four hangers (‘4 Hallen’), 3: Accommodation blocks (‘Unterkunftsgebäude’), 6: Air traffic control (‘Flugleitung’), 7: Barracks (‘Baracken’), 9: Radio station & masts ‘(Funkstelle 2 Masten’).
The grass take-off and landing areas, located within the lower ‘circular’ section within the target area,were camouflaged by painting fake field boundaries. These appear as the black geometric lines. The four hangers are also camouflaged.
Camouflaging Structures and Buildings
Enormous amounts of camouflage netting were used in Britain during the Second World War. It was made by cutting up short lengths of green and khaki sacking strips and attaching them to mesh.
The netting created patterned shadows, blending into the surrounding environment and made whatever was hidden underneath difficult to spot from the air.
Tens of thousands of pillboxes were built across Britain during the Second World War, carefully positioned for strategic defence in the event of enemy invasion – an invasion which Hitler finally cancelled.
Most were small, massively reinforced concrete blockhouses of varying shapes, with openings (loopholes) allowing the troops inside to fire at the enemy while remaining safely hidden. Virtually all were camouflaged in some way.
The pillbox pictured above was clad using large stones from the pebble bank at the back of the beach. This was in part to make it blend it into its surroundings but also to save on materials.
Pillboxes were sometimes constructed to resemble rural buildings, such as barns, rather than military installations. These innocent-looking, but armed structures, were meant to be seen and to mislead any invading troops until they were fatally close. Pictured is one built from scratch as a derelict cottage.
It originally had wooden window frames hiding the loopholes and a shattered timber roof with slates hanging off.
Some pillboxes were built against hedges to camouflage them, while others were sunken into the ground like the one pictured above. This one was covered in turf, blending it into its environment and allowing nature to provide natural camouflage.
Meanwhile in towns and cities pillboxes were often in streets or market squares and so camouflage took on an urban form.
RAF Coltishall’s relative proximity to the coast and the growing threat of German invasion led it to be designated as a fighter station. The base suffered numerous enemy attacks in the early years of the war.
Buildings received a coat of camouflage paint, traces of which can still be seen today on the officers’ mess, airmen’s barrack blocks and married accommodation.
Camouflage Artists
In the First World War, artists were recruited to paint Royal Navy ships with ‘dazzle’ camouflage: geometric diagonal black, white and grey stripes which made targeting difficult for German U-boats.
In the Second World War, the Ministry of Home Security’s Camouflage Directorate received more than 2,000 applications from artists to work in the unit.
The artists worked in total secrecy with the sole aim of disguising key military and civilian bombing targets. These were sketched and photographed from the ground and the air and the images were translated into scale models on a giant turntable with moving ‘sun’ and ‘moon’ spotlights mimicking different times of day and night.
A viewing platform gave a bird’s eye view, while bomb sights from downed German aircraft simulated the enemy bomber’s perspective.
Approved camouflage designs were recreated with paint, canvas, coarse hessian and camouflage netting by thousands of workers on enormous target structures such as factories, power stations and military buildings.
Written by Nicky Hughes
Further Reading
- Pillbox Study Group
- South Downs Beachy Head to the River Ouse: Aerial Investigation and Mapping Report
- War Art: Military and Civilian murals from the Second World War
Very interesting.
Very interesting,I enjoyed reading this.
I understand that it was discovered during WW2 that colour blind men could spot camouflage as it stuck out because of the different shade.
My father put his name down as colour blind, but was not accepted as he had fooled the authorities by working out the colour charts and was doing something that he should not have been doing. He spent the early years in wormwood scrubs doing another important job.
When I worked and flew with the Flying Crusaders (Daily Express) we flew over the Battle of Britain Spit and Hurri I was most impressed by the camoflage paint and they were hard to spot. In a battle I doubt you would notice until too late. During the cold war we were given tasks to cover certain places. So, it still goes on. But tech has caught up with the whole idea and more or less made it redundant.
The Rolls-Royce factory in Nightingale Road Derby had the roof painted to represent streets and houses etc one building was painted to represent a chapel , and it carried on being known as the chapel right up to the demolition of the old factory a few years ago , My father worked at RR during the war , and was on fire watching duties on the roof top when in the early morning a JU88 appeared low over the roof tops, one of the few aircraft to have found the factory, fired on the firewatchers ,not causing any casualties ,and flew off to the north east lluckily the Ju88 was caught and shot down by the RAF, the camoflage of the factory obviousy was very effective
Dr alister Mackenzie the world reknowned golf architect created an early social media campaign after the Boer War in preparation for WW1. He witnessed at first hand the skills of the Boer fighters who used effective camouflage especially when creating trenches etc. Many of these had false fronts making it difficult for accurate targeting of them without the use of accurate distance estimates. Many of his later golf structures featured this false front concept to create the same issues over distance by the golfers. He created so much interest via The Times letters pages he was invited to head up the newly formed camouflage units based in London. He created metal trees that had soldiers concealed within them. They also created a dead horse reinforced to conceal staff in no man’s land. He redesigned the style of trenches into a zig zag pattern to lessen the impact of blast. He also prescribed golf in place of drugs. Many of the theatrical set builders were utilised towards the war effort. It is estimated that he saved more lives through these strategic advances than those through his medical prowess. He also used the first versions of portable x ray devices and helped to create the first versions of the triage system of first aid.
HS Colt was a business partner and close friend as they shared many opinions regarding the natural style of golf course design. They spurred each other in through the books they wrote guiding future generations of course architects.
Colt created a golf club in derby in 1929 commissioned by a w farnsworth.
He brought Rolls Royce to Derby in 1908 when he was the head of the chamber of commerce. He provided free hydro electric power and free access to the farm land that later became the Nightingale Road site mentioned above to the company to persuade them to leave Manchester.
My grandfather, George Stowe, of Stowe and Co, builders and joiners of Leamington Spa, carried out the construction work of the camouflage for the Civilian Camouflage Directorate in Leamington Spa. He worked there with Gordon Russel the furniture designer, who later developed postwar Utility Furniture. It was based in a building behind the Spa Baths, which later was converted into the Loft Theatre. This is the building in the illustration.