John Johnston [from La Crosse WI] in a letter quoted in JOHNSTON TELLS OF BEING UNDER THE AMERICAN MILLION DOLLAR BARRAGE PRECEDING GALLANT YANK ATTACK AND CAPTURE OF CANTIGNY STRONGHOLD in La Crosse Tribune and Leader-Press, March 2, 1918, p. 9—
USS George Washington in camouflage (1918)
It was a happy bunch of fellows—a most happy bunch, I might say—who were in the thing to the last drop of the hat. There were nine transports in the group. Among our convoys was the South Carolina and an old captured German raider which was called “The Barber Pole,” because its camouflage made it look like a barber’s sign. One of our ships was the George Washington, which President Wilson sailed to France in.
Everything was fine until we reached the war zone. Then we experienced our first touch of war. Everyone had been given the “stand to” drill, with life preservers. We had our own regimental band with us, and things were gay. I was standing with a group of the men on the deck singing “It’s Easy to Lick the Kaiser.” Every fellow on board was anxious for a look at a submarine, and everybody had his eyes peeled. There were no lights on board.
You couldn’t smoke a cigarette, because the penalty for lighting a match was death. The flare of a match could be seen for two miles out at sea. I was looking over the rail of the Covington at the camouflaged South Carolina. With her silver paint, it seemed as though one could almost look through her.…
RELATED LINKS
Dazzle Camouflage: What is it and how did it work? / Nature, Art, and Camouflage / Art, Women's Rights, and Camouflage / Embedded Figures, Art, and Camouflage / Art, Gestalt, and Camouflage / Optical science meets visual art / Disruption versus dazzle / Chicanery and conspicuousness / Under the big top at Sims' circus
