British
Army Colours and Disruptive Camouflage in the United Kingdom, France and N.W.Europe,
1936-1945 by Mike Starmer
Review by Peter Brown
Another in this series of books on colours and colour schemes, this follows the same format as earlier titles. It is self-produced without frills, its 30-odd pages are spiral bound and apart from the colour cover it is all in black and white. Content more than makes up for any shortcomings in appearance, however.
It describes the various colours and camouflage schemes used in the UK, with the BEF in France in 1939-40, forces from the UK in Tunisia in 1942-43 and the campaign in Northwest Europe 1944-45. It uses original official sources, the Army Council Instructions or ACIs which introduced and withdrew colours and schemes as the war progressed, and is illustrated using the various Military Training Pamphlets issued to aid the correct application of each system as it came in. British practice was also followed by the Canadians in the UK as well as Free Forces such as the Poles, Czechs and Belgians.
It begins with pre-war experiments into camouflage and then describes the systems in use at the outbreak of war, the first green colours used in the early phases including extracts from the 1939 "Camouflage - Disruptive Painting of Vehicles" pamphlet, the change to brown shades with darker overpainting, Military Training Pamphlet No 46 of 1941 which brought in various schemes including what has become known as "Mickey Mouse Ear", and the final wartime scheme with the introduction of the British "Olive Drab" equivalent.
Along the way the principles of camouflage painting of vehicles is described, why the top surfaces of trucks were painted a dark shade, how shadows were disguised and other matters. There are a few notes on markings though only the standard serial number and identification signs including the Allied white star from the European campaign as well as the AFV recognition markings used in the BEF and the later RAC flash.
Text and illustrations are very good, most of these come from the original sources with explanatory notes added. Modellers and vehicle restorers will appreciate the colour chips of the early-war G3, G2 and G4 greens, SCC2 and the SCC1a and Dark Tarmac shading colours and the final SCC14 and SCC15 shades. There are also recommended colour mixes for those who use Humbrol paints and a few for WEM colours though with the actual paint chips it will be easy to match the shades if you use other brands.
Describing the content may make it look as if there is little in the book but that is far from being the case. Many previous attempts at describing colours fall down because they did not have all the instructions for each change including the all-important dates when they were introduced. Add to these the colour chips themselves and you have an authoritative one-volume source on colour schemes which will be an invaluable reference used again and again.
Copies are available direct from the author, he is unable to accept credit card so payment will need a cheque or money order in Sterling. Price including UK postage is £11.00 and for the remainder of the world total cost is £12.00. The author's address is 18 Hillside Road, Piddington, Northants, NN7 2DB, England and if you write to him, please include an IRC. His email is michael_starmer@hotmail.com
As an extra note, the earlier books are still available. Desert Colours: The Caunter Scheme 1940-41 costs £7 plus postage with Desert Colours: Alamein and After 1942-42 and Middle East Colours: Sicily and Italy 1943-45 are £10 each plus postage of £1 in the UK and £2 elsewhere