Thursday, January 1, 2026

German soldiers unseen except those surrendered

WWI German artillery camouflage using overhead netting
Clair Kenamore, From Vauquois Hill to Exermont; a history of the thirty-fifth division of the United States. St Louis MO: Guard Publishing 1919, p. 111—

The invisibility of the Germans was one of their strong points. Their camouflage was good, and they took advantage of every possibility for concealment. Some of our men never saw a German except those who had surrendered. A typical experience was that of Sergeant C.G. McCorkle of E Company, of the 138th, who fought from the "jumping off" day up to the 29th, when he was wounded, but in all that time he never saw a German with a rifle in his hands. All he saw either had their hands high in the air, surrendering, or were using them to work a machine gun.

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irregular streaks of black and white painted across it

Unidentified WWI American ship with dazzle camouflage
Edward Alva Trueblood, In the Flash Ranging Service: Observations of an American Soldier during His Service with the AEF in France. Sacramento CA: News Pub, 1919—

All the boats in our fleet were camouflaged. The King of Italy had great irregular streaks of black and white painted across it. One of the boats in our fleet had a really remarkable picture of a sinking ship painted on its side. Another had two ships painted on its side and was camouflaged to look like two vessels instead of one. While the camouflaged ships appeared strange at first, we soon were used to the unusual appearance, and thought nothing of them. A camouflaged vessel is visible to the naked eye, almost as plain as one that has not been daubed with paint, but it is through the mirrors of a periscope that the camouflage is effective. In reflecting the picture on the horizon, the mirrors lose some of the rays of light, so officers explained to me, hence the eyes of the periscope are unable to detect the camouflage.

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