The Army Air Forces present “Camouflage of Airdromes,” a World War II-era color film that walks military personnel through concealing fields and military air bases, and shows some of the elaborate dummy equipment and buildings used to produce a “ghost army” or in this case “ghost air force”. “Conceal and deceive” is the objective of all camouflage, a major explains to two officers at mark 01:13. That includes concealing both personnel and equipment on the ground while also tricking the enemy about their location and identity. The officers view an aerial photo of a runway while explaining the importance of changing the smooth texture of a runway to a rougher grade so it did not stand out in aerial photography (mark 02:05). They created a simulated hedgerow to make open fields seem less conspicuous, and starting at mark 04:20 discuss how to disguise building rooftops to make them blend in with surrounding terrain and distort their images from aerial views. Steel wool is used to simulate grass (mark 06:02). The officers are also encouraged to take advantage of the natural terrain, as aircraft are shown tucked into a wooded area for concealment (mark 07:25) and placing others along simulated hedgerows to hide their shadows. Although it may not look particularly deceptive from the ground the officer reminds us the goal is to deceive bombardiers and photographs. To prove the point the men look at transparencies containing camouflaged equipment. “If you can’t find them what luck do you think a bombardier will have?” the major asks (mark 09:44).
As the film progresses the officers discuss ways to also deceive the enemy such as leaving decoy aircraft in fields and poorly camouflaging them to draw enemy fire. At 11:30, a fake airplane is created using a cloth kit. At 14:30, a dummy building is shown that will look convincing from the air. The officers are reminded to literally “cover their tracks” when it comes to troop movement through tall grasses, as well covering gouges left in the soft ground by airplanes and bombers (mark 16:50). Following a discussion of tent concealment, the officers note that such methods have been proven successful through experiments and trial and error, and that such methods could be used to disguise entire airdromes, or military bases. To emphasize the point, an “air raid” takes place at mark 20:35 — but the camouflaged Allied equipment confuses the enemy bombers.
The Ghost Army was a Allied Army tactical deception unit during World War II officially known as the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops (Operation Quicksilver). The 1,100-man unit was given a unique mission within the Allied Army: to impersonate other Allied Army units to deceive the enemy. From a few weeks after D-Day, when they landed in France, until the end of the war, they put on a “traveling road show” utilizing inflatable tanks, sound trucks, fake radio transmissions, scripts and pretence. They staged more than 20 battlefield deceptions, often operating very close to the front lines. Their story was kept secret for more than 40 years after the war, and elements of it remain classified.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
