US Armour Camouflage and Markings 1917-45

50 Pages·1984·32.4 MB·English

by  S.J. Zaloga

OSPREY· VANGUARD 39
US ARMOUR
CAMOUFLAGE AND
MARKINGS 1917.. 45
Text and colour plates by Steven]. Zaloga
/'
VANGUARD SERIES
· .y EDITOR: MARTIN WINDROW
1
USARMOU.,
CAMOUFLAGE
AND MARKINGS
1917-45·
Text and colour plates by
STEVEN ]. ZALOGA
OSPREY PUBLISHING LONDON
Published in 1984 by Author's Note
Osprey Publishing Ltd ThesubjectofUS AFVmarkingsisavastone.This
Member company ofthe George Philip Group short bookisan attempttopresenta basicoverview
12-14 Long Acre, London WC2E 9LP of the subject. However, it cannot possibly cover
© Copyright 1984 Osprey Publishing Ltd
every Army memorandum or order affecting
marking patterns, nor the many unofficial vari
This book is copyrighted under the Berne Convention.
ations in insignia and colouring that took place in
All rights reserved. Apart from any fair dealing for the
combat. Special emphasis has been given here to
purpose ofprivate study, research, criticism or review,
actual combat markings, rather than the markings
as permitted under the Copyright Act, 1956, no part
us~d during peacetime service or used by training
ofthis publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any unitsinCONUS (ContinentalUnited States). Part
means, electronic, electrical, chemical, mechanical, ofthe difficulty in dealing with this subject is that
optical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without American soldiers are notoriously lax about
the prior permission ofthe copyright owner. Enquiries observing Army regulations in the field, especially
should be addressed to the Publishers. thoseinvolvingaratherinsignificantmattersuchas
vehicle markings. An attempt is made here to
contrast the regulations with the actual practice.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Thisbookcould nothavebeenpreparedwithout
the assistanceofmanyotherstudentsofthesubject,
Zaloga, StevenJ.
andtheauthorwouldliketothankespeciallyDavid
US armour camouflage and markings 1917-45
List, James Loop, Shep Paine, Phil Dyer and
1. United States. Army-History
George Balin for their many contributions to this
2. Camouflage (Military science)
3. Armoured vehicles, Military work. All photos used here are US Army Signal
I. Title Corps unless otherwise noted.
358'.18 UG446·5
Filmset in Great Britain
Printed in Hong Kong
~-I-
RenaultFTlighttank(No.2367)ofthe2ndPlatoon,Co.C,327th
TankBattalion,1StAEFTankBrigadeatSt.Mimel,France,on
12September1918.Themarkingsconsistprimarilyofawhite
diamond,indicatingCo.C,anda redheart,indicatingthe2nd
Platoon.Thesmallnumber'I'isthevehiclenumberwithinthe
World War 1 platoon. These tanks remained in their original French
camouflage.
Prior to the Grt:at War, US military vehicles had the 1920S the colours were mixed by units on the
traditionally been painted in Olive Drab (OD) or basis of Quartermaster Corps instructions. Al
battleship grey. US Olive Drabis a verydark olive though prepared paint became available in that
greenwithaslightlybrownishhue. The easiestway decade, this did not altogether ensure uniformity
of mixing it has been the combination of orange due to manufacturers' variations. Officially, all
oxide (rustorange) withcharcoalblack. Thecolour tactical (combat) vehicles were to be finished in
has varied depending on the mixture and type of lustreless (matt) Olive Drab, and administrative
pigments. Too much red oxide results in a more vehicles in CONUS in gloss Olive Drab.
distinctly brown colour; too much yellow results in Thefirstinstructionsgoverningtheuseofcolours
an olive green. The appearance ofthe colour has and markings on US vehicles in France with the
varied enormously,'depending not only on the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) were issued
pigmentsused, butontheirdurability. Whenfresh, in a memorandum by the ChiefofQuartermaster,
the colour has been a very dark brownish-green. AEF,on 11September 1917.Thisorderedtheuseof
However, various examples have faded to a field olive drab paint as the basic vehicle colour, and
drab colour, to a pale olive green, or even to a provided details on the use of white lettering for
distinctlypurplish-browncolouronoccasion. Until vehicle markings and serial numbers. This mem-
3
ASix-TonSpecialTractorbeingtowedbyaMackprUnemover Mostoftheseinstructionswerelargelyignoredby
intheUSAin1920.Thisshowsthegaudyfive-colourOrdnance the Tank Corps units in France. During the war,
camouflagescheme,usedtoa limitedextentinWorldWarI.
three light tank battalions with FT-I 7s and one
heavy tank battalion with British Mark V tanks
orandum was overridden by Bulletin No. 90 ofthe took partin the fighting of19I8. These tanks were
GHQ,AEF,on I I November 1918,whichchanged delivered and remained in the colours of their
the earlier instructions in a number ofdetails and original countries: the FT-I 7s were delivered in
amplified other matters. Theform ofunit marking French camouflage, and the British Mark Vs in a
adopted by the US Army in World War I was a monotone scheme, believed to be a dark bronze
seriesofblackgeometricsigns, selectedindividually green. Theactualcolours ofthe French scheme are
by each unit with the approval of the Director, not certain. They were evidently garish, as George
Motor Transport Corps. The various instructions Patton, commander of the light tank battalions,
alsoenvisioned the useofmulti-colourcamouflage. commented on their bright shades, but noted that
The most detailed exposition of US camouflage the scheme was surprisingly effective. It is the
patterns and colours was covered in Painting author's beliefthat they were finished in a manner
Instruction Jor Camouflaging oj Ordnance Vehicles, very similar to the official US Ordnance scheme.
published in October 1918 on the basis of As the light tank battalions were trained by the
experimental work by the 40th Engineers French, notsurprisinglythey adopted French-style
(Camouflage). It is believed that the patterns and unitmarkings.Theseconsistedofawhitegeometric
colourswereheavilyinfluenced byFrenchpractices designindicatingcompany. The 1stCompanyused
of the period. The basic colours involved were a 35cm circle, the 2nd Co. a 30cm square and the
white, yellow, green, creamor brown, applied with 3rd Co. a 45cm-high triangle. Each tank section
irregular black lines in between. The use ofsuch (platoon) had a card symbol: 1st, a spade; 2nd, a
camouflage painting, ironically, was rescinded in heart; yd, a diamond; and 4th, a club. Thecolour
theAEFin]une 1918by GHQ, AEF, due to paint ofthe card symbol was dependenton the battalion
scarcity, and a conviction that it did little good. colours. The first battalion ofa brigade used blue;
However, camouflage painting of equipment the second, red; and the third, yellow. In some
continued in the US; an example on a Six-Ton units a small white numeral was added as the
SpecialTractor (theUS-builtRenaultFT-17tank) vehicle number. Some vehicles retained remnants
is shown in the plates. oftheirFrenchserial numbers and othermarkings.
4
The Inter-War Years caseoftanks, theunitinsigniacouldconsistofa pair
ofcrossedrifleswiththe unitnumberaboveand the
companyletterbelow;inthecaseofcavalrycombat
Following the Armistice the US Army reverted to cars, a similar marking featured crossed sabres
peacetime practices. The Quartermaster Corps instead ofrifles. The alternate form consisted ofa
adoptedOliveDrab as thestandardvehiclecolour. written unit designator, often preceded by the unit
Again, tactical vehicles such as tanks were to use crestincolour.Thealternateformusedathinwhite
lustreless Olive Drab and administrative vehicles line painted above and below the unit designator.
were to use gloss Olive Drab. However, many unit Usually the unit designator was simply an
commandersdesired a 'spit'npolish' finish on their abbreviatedformoftheunitdesignationsuchas'1st
tanks, and as a resultOrdnance authorised in 1928 Ca. F-22', indicating the 22nd vehicle ofF Troop,
the use of spar varnish to obtain a glossy finish. 1stCavalryRegiment.TheArmyRegulationswere
Marking patterns were authorised by Army not very clear as to where this insignia was to be
Regulations AR-8so-S, published by the Adjutant carried, and as a result it varied from unit to unit.
General. The basicmarkingsconsistedofUS Army Some units carried it on the bow, others on the
registration numbers, which consisted ofthe letters turret front or sides.
USAoveraserial, bothpaintedinwhitein4in.high
AT3MediuInChristieTankofCo.F,67thInfantry(MediuIn
letters. Although not mentioned in the regulations,
Tanks)atPineCaInp,NY,in1935.ThisChristieisfinishedin
tank serial numbers in this period were generally full AR-85O-5 regulation Inarkings. The unit Inarkingonthe
turretconsistsoftheregiInentalcrest,followedbythearInSof
'w'
preceded by the letter (War Department), service--crossedInfantryrifles-withtheregiInentalnUfilber
aboveandthecOInpanyletterbelow.Thevehicleidentification
which was mandated by Quartermaster Corps
is carried on the bow. Besides these basic Inarkings, the
regulations after 1926. individual vehiclenUInber'7'is carriedon the turret cupola
andonthebow,andthevehiclenaIneiscarriedoneitherside
Unitinsigniaconsistedofoneoftwoforms. In the ofthehull.
S
Another marking that was seen for a short time marking, most tanks ofthe period carried a small
before the Tank Corps was disbanded in 1920 was brass plaque on either side of the turret, bearing
the Tank Corpsinsignia, a trisected trianglein red, crossed rifles for infantry tanks and crossed sabres
blue and yellow, symbolising the Tank Corps for cavalry combat cars.
origins in the Infantry, Cavalry and Artillery. By the mid-1930s, when the US Army finally
Another marking authorised by AR-8so-S during began to acquire new armoured vehicles, marking
the early 1930S was the vehicle designation. This patterns began to become more colourful. The
marking was usually carried on the hull front, a Army Regulations specifically authorised the
typical example being 'T.1 Combat Car' on a employmentoftacticalmarkingsatthediscretionof
Christie tank. Tanksofthe 1931 MechanizedForce unit commanders, and this loophole was en
usedawhiterhomboidtanksuperimposedonapair thusiastically exploited to add a little colour.
of crossed rifles as a unit marking in place of the One of the most evident markings was the
plainercrossed-riflesinsigniaofthe infantry. There command guidon adopted by command combat
was a considerable amount of variation in tank cars of the cavalry regiments. This was the
markingsduringthisperioddue to theambiguityof traditional red/white cavalry guidon, and bore the
the Army Regulations. Although not actually a regimental number on the top segment and the
squadron on the bottom. Regim"ental commanders
MI Combat Car ofthe Headquarters ofthe 13th Cavalryin used an all-white guidon with the regimental crest
1939. Regimentalcommandtanksuseda plainwhiteguidon
superimposed. There was quite a variety ofother
insigniawiththeregimentalcrestsuperimposed.Thecrestis
repeatedbehind,inthesamelocationascarriedonothertanks changes in the use ofcavalry troop and squadron
intheunit.AlsoevidentinthisviewaretheCavalryplaqueon
the turretsideandthe vehicle registrationnumber. numbers on these combat cars after 1937, and
6
•
interestedreadersarereferred tothedetailedarticle
on the subject by D. P. Dyer in AFVNews.! The
66th Infantry (Light Tanks) also used a com
plicated set ofmarkings, according to the research
of D. P. Dyer. The HQ tanks of the three tank
battalion HQ; used the old Tank Corps triangle.
The three tanks either had a blank triangle, a
triangle with the letter 'C', or a triangle with the
letter'S' for the three battalion HQtanks. In one
battalionthe trianglewas outlinedinwhiteand the
letters were black; in another, the triangle was
outlined in white with white letters; and in the last
the triangle was outlined in black with black
lettering. The two company command tanks ofthe
threecompaniesineachbattalioncarriedatriangle
with outline and numeral colour as per the A'MaeWest'(M2A2LightTank)ofthe3rdPlatoon,Co.B,1St
TankBattalion,68thInfantry(LightTanks)atFt.Benningin
battalion scheme mentioned above. The triangle April 1940. This tank displays Inarkingsfairly typicalofthe
was in the company colours ofyellow, red or blue. inter-warperiod.Theturretunitdesignatorisanauthorised,
alternate styleto the type seen on the photo here ofthe T3
Eachofthethreeplatoonsusedadifferentsymbol: a Christietankofthe67thInfantry.ThereddiaInondwithblack
'4'seeInStoberelatedinstyletotheInarkingsadoptedby66th
square (1st), circle (2nd) or diamond (3rd). This
Infantry.
insignia was painted in the company colours with
outline and numeral colours as per the battalion markings of the 1930S towards larger and more
scheme. visible markings which could help to identify the
The 68th Infantry (LightTank) used geometric sub-units of tanks. More tanks were being fitted
markings, asdidsomeindependenttank battalions. with radios, so itwas necessaryfor tanks to be able
Atleastonebattalionusedcardsymbols, minus the to identify one another at some distance during
geometric shapes, reminiscent ofthe World War I wargames. Some of the methods included the
pattern. painting oflarge troop and squadron numbers on
cavalrycombatcars,and theuseofmoreprominent
geometric insignia on infantry tanks. During this
period regimental crests were still retained,
Prelude to War
especially on the cavalry tanks.
With the consolidation ofcavalry and infantry
Without a doubt, the most complicated and tank units in July 1940 and the formation ofthe
confusing period ofUS tank markings occurred in newArmoredDivisions, markings beganto takeon
theintervalbetween 1939,whentheUS tankforces a slightly more uniform appearance. The explicit
began to bere-organised, and America's entryinto useoftheoldcavalryandinfantryregimentalcrests
World War II in December 1941. During this was dropped, and gradually the pre-war form of
period there was extensive experimentation with written unitdesignators on turretsideswasdeleted.
the 7th Cavalry Brigade (Mechanized) and the This hardlyimplies that there was total uniformity
Provisional Tank Brigade, eventually culminating ofmarkings. For example,the IstArmoredDivision
in theformation oftheArmored Forceand thefirst at Ft. Knox in the autumn of 1941 adopted the
Armored Divisions in July 1940. This hustle and Armored Force triangle with an Arabic 'I'
bustle was accompanied by a great deal of superimposed as its vehicle marking. On M3
experimentationin tacticalvehiclemarkingswhich medium tanks this was carried on the front glacis
is difficult to summarise comprehensively. The plate, on the hull roofin front ofthe turret, on the
general trend was away from the staid unit engine deck and on the rear engine access doors.
Unit insignia consisted of the company letter
lAFV News, Vol. '5 no.2, March Ig80 vehicle number (e.g. D-6) carried on the super-
7
Early War Markings
The outbreak .pf the war prompted the Armored
Force to begin a more serious effort to standardise
markings. An HQ Armored Force order of 28
January 1942outlinedthe markingpracticeswhich
armouredvehicleswere tofollow. Markingswereto
be applied in Air Corps Yellow, NO.4, Lustreless.
As a national insignia, a yellow star was adopted.
On most tanks, the star was to be applied to the
turret side, ofat least 22ins. diameter, with a 4in.
AnM2A2LightTankofthe44thTankCotnpany,NewJersey
NationalGuardat DeKalb, NY, inthe sutntner of1940. This band running around the turret. The higher unit
tank shows a variation of the official AR-850-5 regulation designationoftheunitwastobepaintedcentrallyin
tnarkings, lacking the white lines above and below the unit
descriptor. Olive Drab paint on any stars on vertical surfaces,
but not on stars carried on the roof. Corps
structure front and on the sponson rear surfaces, designations were to appear in Roman numerals,
with the companyletter to the left and the number divisional designations in Arabic numerals. The
to the right. Incontrast, the 2nd Armored Division Armored Force School and ReplacementTraining
at Ft. Hood, Texas, used a reversal of the Centerwere to use 'AFS' or 'RTC' in the centre of
contemporary US Army Air Force insignia, i.e. a thestar. GHQReserveTankGroupsweretousean
red roundel with white star and blue centre. This Arabicnumeralwiththeletters'GP'centredbelow.
wascarriedoneithersideofthehulland onthehull Theseletterswere to be 4in. high. Eachvehicle was
and turretrear.Asimilarcompany-vehiclenumber to be named with the first letter of the name
systemwas carried on the turret sides. At this time, correspondingto thecompanyletter. Somesamples
some companies apparently used a system of offeredwere ANDYGUMP, BLONDIE, DIZZYDEAN and
coloured broken bands around the lower rim ofthe FLASH GORDON. Recon companies were to use
turrets. This may have been a form of either names beginning with 'R', and maintenance
regimental or platoon insignia, but details are
'Mae Wests' of the 192nd Tank Battalion during aututnn
lacking. tnanoeuvresinArkansasinSeptetnber1941,shortlybeforethe
In theautumn of1940 theQuartermaster Corps battalionwasre-eqnippedandshippedtothePhilippines.The
tnarkings here consist of a white circle, bordered with a
began examining various paints to determine how coloured band and with a black nutnber in the centre. The
exacttneaningofthecircletnarkingisnotcertain,butitwas
to reduce the visibility of white registration
probably used to distinguish platoons. At the base of the
numbers. AfterexperimentaluseofDarkEarthand turrets is a two-colour band, probably used to distinguish
cotnpanies of the battalion by alternating the colours and
BlackinNovember 1940,BlueDrab (medium blue patterns.Stylesthathavebeennotedincludethistwo-colour
grey) was chosen, and this was officially mandated band,a tnonochrotnecontinuousband,anda brokenwhiteor
yellowband.
in a memorandum from the Adjutant General's
office in December 1940. While this was not
officially ordered until War Department Circular
No. 174 in June 1942, all vehicles ordered since
fiscal year 1941 had been marked in this fashion
according to contract requirements.
The various memoranda released at this time
stressed the use of lustreless Olive Drab, not the
glossy finish so popular during the 1930s. The
selection of the Blue Drab for vehicle registration
numberswasduetothefact thatBlueDrabisnearly
identical to Olive Drab in tonal value, and so is
difficult both to see and to photograph.
8
companies, 'M'. The exception was HQ units,
which could use any letter except those used by
other companies in the division.
In addition, a newsystem of'bumpercodes' was
promulgated to replace the pre-war system ofunit
markings. These markings were applied fore and
aft. Examples of the codes for various units of I
Armored Corps are given below:
IST ARMORED CORPS ·HQCO HQ-I5
(I in star) ·Signal Bn SG-12
IST ARMORED DIVISION.. ·CCA. ... CC-A-4
(I in star) ·Div. Arty. Cmd....
FA-6
Sig. Co SG-I9
Servo Co S-2I
8Ist Rcn. Bn. ·HQCO R-HQ-2
A Co R-A-I6
Lt. Tank Co.... R
D-I7
1St Armd. Regt. .HQCO I-HQ-9
Rcn. Co I-R-25
Servo Co I-S-8
Maint. Co I-M- AnM3half-trackofthe41stArlDoredInfantry,2ndArlDored
DivisioninConverse,LA,inSeptelDber1941.This showsthe
10 lDarkingstypicalofthe2ndArlDoredDivisionatthetitne; a
nationalinsigniaconsistingofa reddisc,whitestarandblue
1St Tank Bn.... 1-1-3
cockade.ThebUIDpercodesidentifyitasthe18thhalf-trackof
H Co.... I-H-I4 Co.A.
27th Field Arty. Bn. . ..Servo Battery ... 27-S ArmyAirForcewasdoing. However,lackofyellow
6 paint-andageneralresentment throughoutmuch
B Battery ... 27-B-9 ofthe rest ofthe Army over the Armored Forces'
75ISt Tank Bn. ·B Co.... 75I-B-I6 elite pretensions-led to the use ofwhite stars on
HQCo. 75I-HQ-9 many armoured vehicles.
Additional Abbreviations: . The Armyformalised the use ofa white star as a
Maintenance Co. form ofnational insignia in its August 1942 AR
(Regiment) .M 850-5. This regulation also set out the size and
Maintenance Co. location of the stars on various types of vehicles.
(Battalion) .0 This edition of the AR-850-5 was followed by
Engineer Co. or Bn. .E subsequent changes in 1943, 1944 and 1945·
Division Train .TN Usually the changes showed star placement on
Supply Bn. .Q newer vehicle types. The illustrations in this book
Field Artillery ·FA (unless no F Co.) show a typical selection ofUS armoured vehicles
Infantry ·I and the official size and positioning ofthe stars. It
should be kept in mind that stars were applied by
Theselectionofyellowfor the nationalstarwasa the unit in the field or by the depot, not in the
curious choice, as the rest ofthe Army was in the factory. As a result, there was some variation in
processofadopting thewhitestar. Itis theauthor's their size and placement. Many depots cut a few
beliefthat thechoiceofa yellowstarwas partofthe standard star stencils, and used them on vehicles
Armored Force's effort to keep itselfdistinct from which by strict interpretation of regulations
the rest ofthe Army, in mucll the same way as the required other sizes.
9