Camouflage was it always effective or just looked good

I sometimes really wonder how good different camouflage really were. Lots of US tankers would smear mud on their tanks as they said the overall olive drab would stand out at times and the mud helped it blend in and breakup the silhouette. Many would smear out the star as they say it stood out too much and enemy gunners used it as a targeting point. Anyway like the Japanese camouflage on their tanks looks great but that bright yellow makes me wonder how well did it blend in even in a tropical environment. Moses of the Finnish tanks are green with some a dark earth mottling to break up the green. There's a L62/M38 in a Finnish museum that has the green and dark earth then a really bright looking orange reddish color that in the pic seems to really stand out. Did that work with the terrain they were used in? Really pops in the pics so makes me wonder how well it worked in the field. Reading more on the Finnish M38 the Hungarian army had a very similar tank the nimrod, looks basically the same but the Hungarians instead of making a circular turret like the Finnish did made their more u shaped this gave the much more operating room for the gun crew as I noticed the Finnish tank looked really tight. The large bustle rear shape gave them additional storage. Looks a bit like our M36 but mini.

A number of countries that captured Soviet t26s and bts repurposed them as they were unsuitable as frontline armor using them as armored supply or towing vehicles. Some being turned into spgs eve the soviets the t26 SU5 mortar carrier and some countries put a light anti tank gun or other weapons on them to have better weapon mobility. The Germans pretty much did the same with their panzer ones. That 150 L33 gun on that tiny tank was crazy. I'm actually amazed the thing could actually move wonder if they had a high break down rate, anyway the gun looks almost as big as the panzer one. The Germans also used captured t26s as gun carriers or tows for guns. The Finnish modified a number of BTs as armored troop carries looks like the removed the top deck the built a wooden siding around the open area. There's a large spacing between the siding and the top of the hull guess to give the troops a way to see around and fire their weapons.

 

Hmmm...Camo only really works if it fits the terrain the soldier/tank is in. Australian camo is based on the Australian terrain/trees/soils - because we are a defence force and expect to fight in our own country. Any colour that should not be there can be picked up by the eye...think of the colours used by manufacturers of survival gear...its all bright and is supposed to contrast against the background. Supposed to be seen from a distance. So any incongruous colour (a colour that doesn't naturally appear in the terrain) should not be used in camouflage...
The problem with this is the need to make a different camouflage uniform/paint scheme for every different terrain type and even different seasons in the year...not impossible, but difficult to do for most militaries - its a matter of cost and logistics. So the best "general" camo is chosen for what is thought to be the most common terrain that will be used.
The Americans have and continue to make awesome camouflage uniforms and paint schemes...but in some cases lack the discipline to wear it properly, which means no other colours other than the camo colours - Think GIs putting their cig packet in their helmet...or wearing a coloured scarf etc etc...It makes the camo pointless.
I would add here that stillness is the best camo available...being part predator, our eyes (brain) are programmed to pick up on movement...we see whats in front of us in a general sense, but if something moves our eyes are immediately attracted to it. There is a movement speed that will not trigger this effect and people like snipers are experts at moving below that movement speed.


As a smoker i'm outside quite a bit...i am also famous for being able to sit and think...and i don't move a muscle unless i'm bringing the cig to my lips...i dont try to sit perfectly still, its just how i naturally do things...im a still person. Over the past 3 decades of smoking i have startled people, rabbits, kangaroos and birds who didn't realise i was there until i moved...this says to me stillness is more important than camouflage when not wanting to be seen.

 

I agree camo must fit the terrain. Also it depends on your mission; during attacking it does not help that much as during defence position. But the camo helps most during the first shots because your position is then quickly noticed. For tanks I recall the Germans drove them into the house and not much could be seen; the same with the sniper who would not stick his head out of the window but would stay further back in the room.
There is also the sun effect. At least planes preferred to attack from the sun so you would not be noticed.
Another special situation is that the Road for the convoy is narrow and shooting the first and last vehicle blocks the movement for the others altogether. Then you can shoot the other vehicles one By one. Wittman is the best example, I guess.
For ships the zig-zag camo Works well, I guess even during movement.
I guess it is a question of terrain, military situation and different strategies work better for Navy, Air Force, infantry etc.

 

One scheme that's always puzzled me is the Belgian 'jigsaw' camo- I just can't see the logic of it.
Original Belgian army military combat M90 field jacket parka JIGSAW CAMO surplus | eBay
I seem to remember that when they were making The Battle of Britain movie, the camouflage on the Spanish-built version of the Heinkels was so effective, the camera couldn't pick them in the air, so they had to lighten it slightly.

 

We have a joke now after we have loads of ABC called fuel-shop stations built during the last 5 years. The new camouflage should be based on ABC stations on the uniform. The old version is too easy to notice when there are fuel stations behind you everywhere...

 

A long time ago I was taught that the concealment was about a lot more than the paint scheme. The key was to avoid the tell tale signs of...
Shape: Break up the shape - use camouflage poles, hessian (AKA burlap) local vegetation
Shine: Cover reflective surfaces - mirrors - windscreens - lights (More Hessian/burlap) Matt painted dull colours.
Shadow: Use shadow of buildings vegetation etc. Break up the internal shadows created by track overhang and running gear, wheel arches (Hessian/Burlap skirts to cover the internal shadows.
Movement: Avoid movement by personnel or vehicles.
Tracks: obscure tracks caused by moving vehicles. (No point in camouflaging a vehicle to look like a bush if tank tracks end in a bush. Enforce a track plan on the position, base this on existing tracks and around the edge of fields etc, using shadows.
More here
https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/ref/FM/PDFs/FM5-20.PDF
https://armyflying.com/media/albodlv2/camouflage-training-pamphlet.pdf
When it comes to concealment paint schemes may have been less useful than careful siting good use of camouflage materials, discipline and constant vigilance.

These uncamouflaged dummy vehicles could have been painted in any colour scheme, but its the shapes and shadows that create the impression.

The following images use camouflage material to break up shapes and avoid shadows




Though the illusion is broken when the 50+ ton bush starts to move...

 

Measure 21 (all blue) for US ships - great until the ship moves and leaves a white wake.
Measure 32 (multi-color) camouflage for US ships. So you can't hide 32,000 ton aircraft carrier, maybe you can confuse the observer as to what class or direction of travel?
Forgot what Japanese aircraft carrier had it, but they painted battleship guns and turret on her flight deck. OK, one prime target to another prime target.

 

Our brain is wired to pick up movement and familiar shapes. If you can limit movement and disguise the shape than the brain won't pick it up because it isn't familiar. In ww2, helmets were easily ID'd, so a little grass or netting would do wonders for concealment. Trucks, tanks and arty needed more material when out in the open. However, care had to be taken because around sunup or sundown what looked like an ordinary patch of grass or sand at mid-day, threw a shadow that blew it's disguise.

I've read that the Germans issued reversible camo coats for infantry. One side was green/brown pattern, the other white. Looking at old pictures, I don't think everyone got one.
Nowdays, you have to camouflage your infra-red and radar signature also!

 

Yeah I know the camouflage is supposed to reflect the terrain but some of the camos you see in museums I wonder if they are correct for the time and place they depic or just looked good for display. Like the now favored camo for the matilda in North Africa they say online is incorrect. A museum restoring a matilda repainted it and for some reason the grey was replaced with a bluish color since then most tanks in that combo scheme have gone to the blue although it looks good it's incorrect. Like the Japanese camo in a dense green jungle I'd think that bright yellow would stand out. The Germans early panzer grey was a color that blended in with the shadows tanks and such would hide in the shadows of trees and such and snipe an enemy. Had a friend in army tank logistics said they would have war games in Germany and the Germans would paint some of their tanks in the old panzer grey. Said it was crazy how well it worked they'd go out knowing they would be hiding in shadows but still had a hard tinpme finding them. I bet he would have loved the new targeting systems they have these days that was back in the 70s and said they basically had optical sighting. The thing they showed about the new targeting system on the Abrams and new tanks is they have both night and infra red. When the Iraqis were burning drums of oil to make smoke they thought they were safe in the smoke but the infrared allowed the tanks to see them thru the smoke and they fired and destroyed many Iraqi tanks before they could do anything. I wonder how well we would have done without gps.

 

The top pic says their dummy vehicles were they those inflatable ones part of the ghost army?

 

Its from the Ghost Army website. Sure, dummies may have played a part in some of the strat4giuc deceptions such as supportign the fake army group in SE England or Britsh deployment before El Alamein. However, I am not convinced that the tactical dummy's used by th "Ghost Army" were cost effective.

 

Well they certainly put s lot into it from inflatable trucks tanks and jeeps to fake planes at different airfields to make the Germans think we were staging for a mass invasion to a counter offensive. Kept them guessing for quite a while. Like d day the real paratroopers and those dummy troopers German command had so many reports of there fake and there real they didn't know which one were really real and where to send troops so they were sending troops to cover just about everything. First here then there wonder if any mobile units ran out of fuel racing here and there as fuel supplies were always low.
Like those gullie suits I think there called, always thought those were odd and did they really work. Had a friend that was into paint ball war. Said he was in a game jumped into a ditch and the bush moved and shot him was a guy in one of those camo suits said if you had asked him what was in the ditch he would have said a bush and nothing more. Lol, said those guys could blend in good but once discovered they couldn't run very fast.

 

As @Sheldrake posted, breaking up the shape is critical. An object can match its background almost perfectly, but if it has the shape of a tank, airplane, etc. it still stands out.

I've seen a photo of a US Navy scheme which painted the silhouette of the hull of a destroyer on the side of a heavy cruiser. It was discontinued because it was too good and confused our own ships in formation.

 

I've seen pics I think the Royal Navy painted false bows and sterns to confuse the enemy as to the size and type. Look crazy the wildest were those dazzle patterns that had all those light and dark strips or splinters I read it would kinda daze your eyes and mess up your perception. I'll have to look up that pattern must be pictorial records somewhere.

 

The Soviets also used inflatable tanks and aeroplanes to fool the Germans that their main troops were in the south attacking towards the Balkans. Then the attack came straight towards Army Group Center, Zhukov's favourite target, and the German panzer divisions were in the wrong place. Bagration was massive success.

 

I think we might be confusing camouflage with deception. One is to convince the enemy that something that IS there, isn't. The other is to convince him that something that isn't there, is.

 

The two can be linked as in the deception plans for El Almein where tanks were disguised as trucks in the North and dummy tanks appeared in the south.

However, deception works best if it is plausible and confirms what the enemy is already thinking.