Why the Heer refused to adopt camo for its soldiers?

[heinz kling]

I know for a fact that camo was not widely issued to Heer formations, in contrast to the SS, Fallshirmjäger and Luftwaffe Jäger-Regiments, despite its proven utility in battle. Was the resistance because camo was pioneered by the Heer's nemesis, the SS, or because of late war material shortages or abundance of regular uniforms, as I think costwise, a camo uniform is cheaper to made (no need for schlitzen, farbe, rangs ect)?

[PaulW]

Maybe they felt that the camo Zelt was enough. Later in the war camo was more common in the heer, esp for frontlinre elite units, though never like FJ or SS. Probably the cost ....
And what were the PROVEN benefits back then? WSS casualites in the early war were atrocious.(mainly due to poor officers). The FJ had likewise terrible losses at Crete..............,..

[mikerock]

The FJ didn't have camo smocks at Crete, they were field grey.

--Mike

[Max-]

the Heer was several times larger than the SS or FJ and thus needed cheap uniforms to supply its troops, especially later in the war. i think feldgrau uniforms were cheaper, especially those made after oct 43, which were poor quality compared to earlier ones but generally acceptable for use.

off the record, i think a german report showed that camo uniforms reduced casualties by 35%.

[Lustmolch]

The Heer started production of it's own camouflage smock c.1942. Helmet covers were manufactured around this time as well. Supplies were always at a premium and they tended to go to troops who would need to be concealed in the line of their work, so snipers and assault engineers tended to get priority.

Camouflage garments increased in circulation with the introduction of the 2 piece Winteranzug, produced in the splinter and the later marsh camouflage patterns.

For the most part, the soldier in the field relied upon his Zeltbahn as it made a surprisingly effective camouflage garment and broke up his outline into the bargain.

[heinz kling]

Discounting the Winteranzug, even late into the war you seldom see, in pcitures, Heer soldiers fitted out in camo in spring/summer/autumn, Zeltbahn or not.

[sid guttridge]

Hi Guys,

I had a discussion about the relative merits of multi-colour and single colour camouflage with a South African liaison officer when I was in Rhodesia in the late 1970s. They wore a plain neutral brown (called pronutria I think). We had a three colour pattern. To settle the issue he and I hid the same pieces of clothing (shirts and trousers) in the same spots and I had my men try to spot them. I had about 30 men go through this and we could find absolutely no difference in the effectiveness of one over the other.

We decided that this was because the shade of brown used by the South Africans was well chosen and that its single colour was diversified by dirt, stains, creasing, folding and shadow into a variety of shades that broke up the solid outline as well as did our three colour cammo.

I would still vote for multi-coloured cammo, but I am not at all sure that the advantages are as marked as we might assume.

Cheers,

Sid.

[sid guttridge]

Hi Heinz,

A point I forgot to make in my last posting: Feldgrau already was a camouflage colour. It was simply not multi-coloured.

I would have thought that multi-coloured camouflage, if applied to the same clothing as a single coloured camouflage such as feldgrau or khaki, would have been marginally (although not significantly) more expensive and taken longer to manufacture.

A further thought: Did the German Army actually REFUSE to adopt multi-coloured camouflage, or simply not adopt it?

Cheers,

Sid.

P.S. In case there is doubt - I lean in favour of the Waffen-SS on this one.

[Lustmolch]

Perhaps we associate the Waffen SS with camouflage garments could be because they wore a wider variety of them. Off the top of my head there were the following patterns

Plane tree, palm tree, smoke, oak/plane tree, ringed oakleaf, oakleaf, peas

made into

zeltbahns, helmet covers, early model reversible smock, late model ditto, tank crew overalls, tank wraparound tunics/trousers, drill tunic and trousers, winter parka and trousers

Not to mention field made garments from the unit tailors.

Heer camouflage patterns

Splinter, Marsh 1943, Marsh 1944

zeltbahns, helmet covers, smock, winter parka and trousers, anti gas oufit

again, field expedient and unit tailor garments (non regulation cammo jackets etc)

The last item to be manufactured was a camouflage apron in either splinter or marsh 1944.

These are just the items I have found out about but as can be seen, SS cammo clothing appears to have had more varieties than Heer ones, which may explain the relative paucity of Heer cammo clothing in photographs.

As is rightly pointed out, Feldgrau is a camouflage colour and more practical than the 1914 French uniform of blue tunic and red trousers.

[sid guttridge]

Hi Lustmolch,

Thanks very much for that. I never realised the full variety of its use.

Can you tell me if it is true that all Waffen-SS multi-coloured camouflage was made in the Protectorate and not in the Reich proper?

Where did the army manufacture its multi-coloured camouflage material?

Cheers,

Sid.

[battalionsfuhrer tiburzy]

hi sid,

Not quite sure where heer camo. was manufactured, probably somewhere in germany. Aside from single and multicolored camo clothing i hav'nt heard brought up is the use of chicken wire large and small for helmets and rope nettingwhich could drape over front of soldiers face. these 2 methods of camo. were heavily used by all branches of wermacht. I've also seen many photo's with helmets covered in ambush colors with paint either sprayed or brushed. I think that the increased use of chicken wire, netting, and paints were do to the lack of raw materials avail. to the front line soldier. Speaking of nettings, i saw a photo in one of my books with a grenadier of the 21st panzer div in normandy with a large camo. netting vest, and soldiers vest buckled around the vest. great topic!

[Tom Houlihan]

When I was in the infantry, we were taught that color is not the most important factor in camouflaging yourself. Breaking up patterns is often more effective. So, the chicken wire/leave on the helmet approach, though simple, is often quite effective. Break up your outline, mask straight lines (Mother Nature abhors a straight line), and paint your face properly to adjust the shadows, and you're well on your way to being hidden!