Theory of Aircraft Camouflage

Interesting.

I wonder if you can clarify exactly what these “combats (that) were taking place at higher altitudes” were?

That doesn’t seem to tally with the mix of circuses, ramrods and rhubarbs sometimes accompanying Blenheims and Bostons which characterised that particular period of the war.

Moggy

The common believe that the switch in camouflage schemes in August 1941 from the Land Temperate (brown and green) to the Day Fighter (grey and green) was a result of the RAF’s Day Fighters operating increasingly over water, especially the English Channel does not stand up to scrutiny. As the research of Paul Lucas has discovered, the actual reason was that combats were taking place at higher altitudes. Ocean Grey was a new colour (unlike other Air Ministry camouflage colours it has no British Standard) with a blue cast developed for these higher altitudes.

When the Luftwaffe’s medium bomber force made the switch to night bombing, the daylight offensive was continued by Bf 109 and 110aircraft modified for the fighter bomber role. These aircraft operated at heights of between 25~30,000 ft. Much smaller and faster than the medium bombers they replaced, they were much more difficult to track and intercept. The air battles which resulted from successful interceptions, now took place at much higher altitudes than previously, and concerns about colour schemes began to be made known to higher authority. From October 1940 onwards, RAF Day Fighter pilots began to report that the camouflage finish applied to their fighters appeared to be too dark for the altitudes at which they were now flying and fighting. In retrospect, it is not too surprising as the Land Temperate scheme had been developed for use at altitudes of 10,000 ft. or less. With fighting now taking place at much greater altitudes and as the RAF began to adopt a more offensive posture in the spring of 1941, the matter of effective camouflage at altitudes greater than 10,000 ft. began to assume greater importance.

On 26 March 1941, Fighter Command requested that trials be carried out by the Air Fighting Development Unit, (AFDU), based at Duxford, under the command of Wing Commander Campbell-Orde, with the assistance of the Royal Aircraft Establishment, (RAE), at Farnborough. The aim of these trials was to try to find a Compromise Colour Scheme which would be suitable for Day Fighters at all altitudes, as well as when parked at dispersal on an airfield. At this time, on most fighter stations, aircraft were parked on concrete and not on grass. A two colour scheme was suggested using a light grey. In response to this request, on 3 April 1941, two representatives of the RAE visited Duxford to consult with the AFDU on the changes thought necessary to meet the requirement. Agreement on the main outlines of the new camouflage scheme was reached and the application of paint onto two Mk I Spitfires, X4815 and X4816, was started the same day.

Trial Scheme A was applied to X4815. Itwould appear that this scheme was an attempt to mimic the Jagdwaffe’s mottle finish, considered in some quarters to be superior to the standard RAF camouflage scheme. The entire uppersurfaces of X4815 were mottled in such a way that two thirds were coloured Sky Grey and one third was coloured Olive Grey. Sky Grey was a standard camouflage colour which had been developed for the Fleet Air Arm at the RAE before the war, but Olive Grey was apparently a new experimental colour which was officially described as being half way between Dark Sea Grey and Light Slate Grey in hue. The undersurfaces were finished in Sky Blue, another standard colour which originated at the RAE before the war. Exactly how the mottle finish was applied is not clear, but it is assumed that it was applied evenly over the whole of the’ uppersurfaces. Whether the mottle consisted of large or small patches or a mixture of both is also presently unknown. X4815 is known to have been coded AF-S at some time whilst serving at AFDU, but it is not known if these codes were worn in conjunction with either this scheme or Scheme ‘C’.

Trial Scheme B was applied to X4816, but this scheme only affected the undersurfaces, with the upper surfaces being left in the standard Dark Green and Dark Earth scheme. The new undersurface colour was another experimental colour which apparently never had a proper name, but was officially described as being half way between Sky Blue and Sky.

Test flights with the two Spitfres finished in these two schemes quickly established that the Sky Grey in Trial Scheme A was too light and contrasted too strongly with the Olive Grey, but the Sky Blue undersurfaces of Trial Scheme A was preferred to the light greenish blue of Trial Scheme B. As a result of these findings, both aircraft were repainted in modified schemes.

Trial Scheme C replaced Trial Scheme A on X4815. In this scheme the uppersurfaces were finished in the normal disruptive pattern shown in AD 1160 but using Medium Sea Grey and Olive Grey, whilst Sky Blue was retained on the undersurfaces.

Trial Scheme D replaced Trial Scheme B on X4816. On this aircraft the upper surfaces were again finished in the standard disruptive pattern shown in AD 1160, but this time the colours used were Medium Sea Grey and Dark Sea Grey whilst the undersurfaces were finished in Sky Grey. Further tests were carried out with Schemes C and D at altitudes of 20~30,000ft during which the trials aircraft were observed from both above and below at various distances up to about 5,000ft away whilst being compared both with each other and with an aircraft in the standard finish. Both Schemes C and D were found to be much more effective than the standard scheme but, by 10 May 1941, Scheme C, Medium Sea Grey, Dark Sea Grey and Sky Blue, had been selected for full scale service trials, which In the event were carried out by the Hurricanes of 56 Squadron at North Weald. At this point the involvement of the AFDU Spitfires in the camouflage scheme trials came to an end, although the trials were continued in the hands of 56 Squadron which led to the eventual adoption of the Day Fighter Scheme of Dark Green and Ocean Grey on the uppersurfaces and Medium Sea Grey on nthe undersurfaces

Paul Lucas

“The discovery of this information appears to discredit the accepted view that RAF Day Fighters changed their camouflage from ‘green and brown’ to ‘green and grey’ in the summer of 1941 because they were operating over water. Why this idea ever took root is something of a mystery in itself, as if the RAF wished to adopt an over water camouflage scheme for its Day Fighters, why would it be necessary to go to the lengths of introducing a new scheme when the Temperate Sea Scheme of Extra Dark Sea Grey and Dark Slate Grey already existed and had been adopted by the Blenheims of 2 Group in July 1941 for their over water operations as part of Operation ‘Channel Stop’? Having hopefully answered the question as to ‘why’ this change in colouring took place however. Several new questions now arise! What is the author so far, is a hand-written note on the trials at Duxford which originated with the Chemistry Department of the RAE in late April 1941. This suggests that this colour was formulated specifically for these trials by the RAE. It was apparently also used for 54 Squadron’s service trials and supplied to De Havilland for use on the prototype Mosquito which would appear to have been camouflaged on the uppersurfaces in Olive Grey and Medium Sea Grey. After the end of May 1941, Olive Grey seems to disappear, as no further mention is made of it in any of the documents so far seen by the author. It certainly never appears in RAF service under that name as it is never included in DTD Technical Circular No 360, Air Publication 2656A, or the RAF Vocabulary of Stores section 33B. However, is it possible that Olive Grey was simply renamed Ocean Grey when put into mass production?
So far no surviving sample of, or standard for, Olive Grey has come to light which would allow comparison with Ocean Grey to be made. As Olive Grey disappears at about the same time that Ocean Grey appears, with both colours, (if they were indeed different colours),
being used for the same purpose, the circumstantial link is a strong one.”

Of further interest is that as the Luftwaffe was thrown completely on the defensive in late 1944 and 1945 the dominant colours like the greys were phased out and replaced by greens and browns.

Which only goes to prove “what goes around comes around”

😉

The view was that much of the combat during the circuses and the like would take place over the Channel and the Grey / Green scheme was a better compromise. The changeover in colours during 1941 signalled the switch from a defensive posture to a more aggressive one.

Moggy