C A M O U P E D I A

Friday, February 20, 2026

stand fast command / nobody don't do nothing / freeze!

WWI captured German cannon
Thorburn, Alexander Douglas. Amateur gunners: the Great War adventures, letters and observations of Alexander Douglas Thorburn. Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Pen and Sword Military 2014, pp. 193-194—

Any sportsman knows that the eye of an observer trying to spot game is attracted by movement. It is movement that gives away the position either of game in peace or of soldiers in war. The observer of an airplane searching for the position of a hostile battery has his attention drawn by movement.

The approach of a hostile airplane is notified by the airplane scout whom every battery in action must keep on the gun position, a specially selected man, with the sharpest of wits, eyes, and cars, and armed with a whistle and field glasses. The airplane scouts should be exceptionally able to stare into bright sunlight, be acquainted with the designs as well as distinguishing marks of enemy airplanes, and be relieved every hour. On the scout blowing his whistle the order "stand fast" is given and obeyed instantly. (The old instructor's "detail" of the meaning of "stand fast" is unbeatable: "On the order "stand fast" nobody don't do nothing.")…

The guiding principle of camouflage from aerial observation should be this: It is useless to attempt to hide anything, but not difficult to disguise anything so that it will look like something different and harmless. For example, four or six guns at 20 yds interval are obviously a battery. Fill up the spaces between the guns and spread netting or leaves over the top and from the air you have apparently a row of trees, a thick hedge, or even a big hog of swedes or beetroots. But all the men must stand absolutely rigid. The slightest movement anywhere is enough to ruin your attempt at disguise when an enemy airman is scouting overhead The penalty for movement will be possibly smashed guns, probably dead and wounded gunners, almost certainly a move to a new position and all your work to be done again.

Thursday, February 19, 2026

Troccoli's involvement in artillery camouflage in WWI

Giovanni Battista Troccoli (1882-1940) was an Italian-American painter who came to the US at age 11 in 1893. He began his career in Boston, where he worked as a wood carver at age 14, and soon after as a modeler for a well-known Boston sculptor, Hugh Cairns.

WWI artillery camouflage (Watertown Arsenal) AI Colorized

He turned from sculpture to painting, and in the process studied with Denman Ross (author of A Theory of Pure Design: Harmony, Balance, Rhythm), and with artist and frame designer Hermann Dudley Murphy, both of whom were associated with Harvard University. The latter, as explained in earlier posts, supervised the application of ship camouflage during World War I.

Troccoli also studied painting in Paris, Amsterdam and Spain, and seems to have been primarily known as a portrait painter. Of greater interest at the moment is his little-known involvement in wartime camouflage. During WWI, perhaps as a civilian, he was involved in developing camouflage patterns for American field artillery at the Watertown Arsenal, in Watertown MA. It is unconfirmed but he may have contributed to the camouflage of the field guns that are shown above and below in this post, all of which were apparently processed at Watertown.

WWI artillery camouflage (Watertown Arsenal) AI Colorized

Wednesday, February 18, 2026

so who invented camouflage / two more possibilities?

SS Lapland in camouflage 1918 (not related to text)

In an earlier post today, I made note of the credit that may be due to a British brewer, Joseph Williams Lovibond, for his early contributions to wartime camouflage. I had no sooner posted that when I ran across his name again, in a newspaper article (see text below) that dates from one year earlier and makes the same claim. However, it is even more interesting because it also claims that yet another man, a British bridge engineer named Reginald Arthur Ryves (1873-1949), made proposals for the camouflage of ships, guns and wagons as early as 1905.

•••

COLOR "COVER": Pioneers of Camouflage in The Telegraph. Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, on October 3, 1927—

Who Invented camouflage?

The recent death of Mr. Solomon J. Solomon, R.A., the famous artist, who was one of the pioneers of camouflage during the war, has made many people ask that question. For, though there was at first a tendency to describe him as the inventor of the art, It soon became obvious that there were other claimants to the honor.

As a matter of fact, It would seem that it was the Germans who first used this particular kind of deception during the war, although, thanks to the ingenuity of Mr. Solomon and his colleagues, we soon beat them at their own game.

It was, however, Britishers who first saw, before the outbreak of hostilities, that developments of this kind were necessary in modern war. As long ago as September 1905, a consulting engineer, Mr. Reginald Ryves, put forward an idea for the painting of ships to deceive an enemy, on practically the lines which were afterwards adopted. He added suggestions for the painting of guns and wagons.

Also some years before 1914 Mr. [Joseph Williams] Lovibond, a brewer, made experiments with painted screens for hiding gun positions. His system was demonstrated to the War Office, whose representative was much impressed by the success of the device. But nothing further was done, and it was only after the Germans had started it that we began to think seriously about the possibilities of camouflage.

It Is tragic when we think how many lives might have been saved had Mr. Lovibond's ideas—or Mr. Ryves's—been adopted earlier!

The real credit for the invention of camouflage must, however, be given to Nature. Look at the wonderful protective coloring of certain birds and insects—how they fit into the scenes which they commonly frequent. Or take the tiger. He looks conspicuous enough when we see him at the zoo, but in his native jungle he is practically invisible until the moment that it suits him to be otherwise.

But in one way at least we had begun to learn the lessons those animals had to teach even before we called upon Mr. Solomon to hide our guns from the enemy, or Mr. Norman Wilkinson to paint our ships so that no one could tell which way they were going. Our field service uniform of khaki was chosen because it blended naturally with the color of the surrounding country in many of the lands where our troops had had to operate.

importance of beer color measurement in camouflage

J.L. Lovibond and his tintometer

Until recently, we knew all but nothing about a British brewer named Joseph Williams Lovibond (1833-1918) [also sometimes cited as Joseph William Lovibond]. According to online sources, he invented an early instrument (called a colorimeter) which enabled the standardization of measuring the color of beer.

But it worked for other things as well, and during World War I it was used by the British to accurately determine camouflage colors in order to match their surroundings. This was more or less confirmed in the following news article—

Anon, ORIGIN OF CAMOUFLAGE in Bridgeport Telegram (Bridgeport CT), March 12, 1928, p. 3—

A recent writer in an English magazine says it is a mistake to think that the art of camouflage originated during the World War. The idea of camouflage is probably very old, and the black and white chequer work on old wooden fighting ships is camouflage of a sort. The modern scientific use was, our correspondent believes, first begun by the late Mr. [Joseph Williams] Lovibond, the brewer [originator of the Degrees Lovibond scale], who showed him, in 1913, a screen painted with squares of three colors, about five inches across, which he had designed to hide guns on Salisbury Plain. A gun thus covered was shown to the British War Office authorities some years previously, and though a complete success, and the inspecting “brass hat” was much impressed, nothing further was done on the matter. The War Office front in those days, it is added, was practically impregnable to the inventor.

exciting new exhibition at spy museum coming soon

So discouraging. There was a time, not too many years ago, when I could speak fluently, without constant hems and haws, while being interviewed live for radio, television or documentary videos. I may have to call it quits for anything off-the-cuff. I'll be eighty years old in a few months, and in a live radio session recorded only yesterday, I proved all but incapable of completing a single sentence without stuttering, stumbling, or completely derailing my train of thought. Bummer.

The interview was conducted by a wonderful radio host named Ben Kieffer, who is featured daily at noon during the week on Iowa Public Radio on a program called River to River. He was wonderful, as was Kathryn Keane (who spoke so eloquently and without a single flaw), who is one of the top executives at the International Spy Museum in Washington DC.

Our tandem interviews came about because that museum is about to open a new, major exhibition about camouflage (called Camouflage: Designed to Deceive), beginning March 1 and continuing for three years. You can find out more about the exhibition contents online at the museum's website. And you'll also find details about the exhibition catalog (for which I wrote the introduction) online here.

Friday, February 6, 2026

Ghost Army Legacy group funds camouflage research

More than a dozen years ago, Rick Beyer came out with a documentary film, titled The Ghost Army, which premiered on PBS. It provided a vivid account of a once top secret World War II American Army unit (known as The Ghost Army), the mission of which was battlefield deception, using sonic and radio confusion, visual camouflage, inflatable decoys, and all sorts of persuasive deceptive events.

Two years later, Beyer and Elizabeth Sayles (whose father belonged to the unit), produced an equally wonderful book titled The Ghost Army of World War II (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2015).

Beyer's Ghost Army efforts have enjoyed enormous success. It has enabled him to establish a Ghost Army Legacy Project, and to unearth further details about two WWII tactical units, the US Army's 23rd Headquarters Special Troops and the 3133rd Signal Service Company.

Now, it has just been announced that the Ghost Army organization has established a Research and Creative Grant Program, open to those who might have an interest in "supporting and expanding the public's understanding of the unique contributions and legacy" of the two Ghost Army units.

Proposals are due May 15, 2026, with an awards notification date of August 15, 2026. Complete information can be found online at this link.

•••