Swamp camo
Swamp camouflage or swamp pattern is a camouflage pattern that was produced in Germany for equipment and camouflage uniforms of the Wehrmacht from 1943 and was used in a further developed form by the Federal Border Police (BGS) from 1952 to the 1980s. In the former BGS anti-terrorist unit Grenzschutzgruppe 9 (GSG 9), the swamp camo was applied as a helmet camo cover around 2000. Some countries to which the pattern was exported still use it today.
Germany's first textile camouflage pattern, " Splittertarn ", was introduced to the Reichswehr in 1931 and was initially only used for the triangular army tent tracks . During the Second World War, its possible uses were expanded in many ways. This resulted in standardized camouflage uniforms ex works and free in-house productions by the troops from tent sheets at the front.
Basic description of the swamp camouflage pattern
The derivation of the swamp camouflage scheme from the splitter camouflage twelve years older is obvious. The schematic difference lies in the shape of the “splinters”, whose angular, linear shape has now been softened and smoothed out at the edges by means of matching colored dots that became finer and finer towards the outside. The irregular groups of broken lines, which were distributed over the actual camouflage scheme and were intended to provide additional resolution of the basic pattern, were completely retained. The alignment of the lines is uniform across the entire pattern.
Wehrmacht swamp camouflage pattern
In 1943 the Wehrmacht introduced a new camouflage scheme, which was mainly suitable for covered operations in spring, summer and autumn. At the same time, it offered increased privacy in wetlands and undergrowth . The basic concept of the swamp camouflage pattern shows clear analogies to the three-color camouflage system introduced on February 18, 1943 for the army's large equipment. The idea of the RAL color shade "dark yellow according to sample" introduced with this system as the basic color and the two-tone spots attached to it also appears in the swamp camouflage pattern, whereby the streak camouflage adopted from the Wehrmacht's splinter camouflage pattern should also "blur" the pattern. Instead of the color shade RAL 8017 red-brown (today: RAL 8017 chocolate brown) used in the three-color camouflage system, a more reddish color was used, as can be found in the vegetation of moors and tundras. The green spots of the swamp camouflage pattern, on the other hand, had their color similarity in the color RAL 6003 olive green, which is still used today and which belonged to the three-color system.
Marsh camouflage pattern M43
The first developed swamp camouflage scheme M1943 was still very clearly based on the camouflage scheme "Splittertarn M31". In contrast to this, the basic color of the fabric was now a beige tone and the red-brown and green spots, which were still applied in clearly angular splinters, no longer touched one another. In addition, the splinters ran out softer thanks to matching colored dots. Above it was printed the irregular, one-way dashed line pattern in a darker shade of green. The M43 swamp camouflage pattern was issued to snipers and tank grenadiers in the form of camouflage jackets and full camouflage uniforms .
Marsh camouflage pattern M44
The only conceptual difference between the scheme, which appeared in 1944, was that the angular, linear splinter shape had been abandoned in favor of softer, more spotty shapes.
Since the German army did not have a central manufacturer of equipment, but worked with various regional suppliers, the products made differ more or less strongly from each other despite uniform specifications. With the advancement of the war and the increasing scarcity economy, this effect intensified. This concerned not only the pattern and the manufacture of uniform parts, but also the color of the same. In the course of the war, especially in the occupied territories, parts of uniform were also made according to non-standardized criteria.
The swamp camouflage patterns M43 and M44 were also used by the allied Hungarian army and were still applied there after the Second World War.
Marsh camouflage pattern of the Federal Border Police
After the establishment of the Federal Border Guard on March 16, 1951, the splinter camouflage scheme from the time of the Reichswehr was initially used for equipment and camouflage uniforms in the BGS, but slowly replaced after the introduction of the marsh camouflage pattern in 1952. The splinter camouflage pattern can still be seen on canvas sheets on BGS photos from the late 1950s . Both patterns were worn in parallel for a while, at least in part.
Members of the Federal Border Police used the swamp camouflage pattern for orders for reconnaissance purposes on the border with the GDR and for exercises in the field. It is not known how long the swamp camouflage pattern was / will be produced beyond 1976 on behalf of the state for special forces and export.
The BGS had three variants of the swamp camouflage scheme.
1952 to 1959
In the first variant, the beige-gray spots were arranged in irregular shapes on the gray-beige background. The red-brown spots sprinkled over it, whereby the two spots did not overlap. The irregular lines covering the entire fabric, which were printed last, also dissolved the shapes.
With the first BGS swamp camo I, the colors used can be defined as follows.
- Basic shade: RAL 1019 gray beige
- reddish spots: RAL 8012 reddish brown
- Dark gray spots: RAL 7006 beige gray
- Lines: RAL 7003 moss gray
Important: RAL colors are lacquer colors. The color values mentioned here are only intended to give an approximate impression of the original colors.
1960 to 1962
In the second variant, the basic tone and red-brown remained the same, but the previously beige-brown spots were a tinge to green.
1963 until today
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In its last version, only red-brown remains, the basic tone becomes lighter and the spots are now clearly green.
The following items of equipment were printed in the swamp camouflage pattern at BGS:
- Triangular tent track
- Tent pocket
- Helmet camouflage cover
- Field cap
- Camouflage jacket
- Camouflage pants
- parka
In 1976 the BGS withdrew all items of equipment in the swamp camouflage pattern after political decisions and introduced a uniform that was almost identical to the police. Some items such as the triangular tent sheets were now delivered in a blue-gray standard color. Photos show BGS officials, however, still in the 1980s during operations during the mass demonstrations against the Wackersdorf reprocessing plant in the Upper Palatinate with swamp camouflage uniforms.
Only at the BGS anti-terrorist unit Grenzschutzgruppe 9 (GSG 9), which was founded in September 1972 after the Palestinian murder attacks during the Olympic Games in Munich, were equipment and most recently the Sumpftarn helmet cover in use until around 2000.
BGS swamp camouflage pattern as an export product
BGS-Sumpftarnstoffe was exported from Germany to various countries. Libya, for example, dressed some military units with uniforms in swamp camouflage, which were still in use in 2007.
Marsh camouflage pattern in Austria
In 1962, a four-color variant of the BGS swamp camouflage pattern was introduced in the Austrian army for tents in the Alpine regions. Its basic design was adopted and only exchanged the beige-brown for medium gray and the red-brown for olive-green spots. The pattern called stone camouflage in Austria was in use until 1978.
Marsh camouflage pattern in Czechoslovakia
The first Czechoslovak swamp camouflage pattern that was in use around 1950 did not differ from the original Wehrmacht swamp camouflage 43 and was probably reprinted from captured German artwork.
Between 1952 and 1960, Czechoslovakia had its own, further developed four-color swamp camouflage pattern based on the Wehrmacht swamp camouflage 43, which also sprinkled black spots into the pattern. This pattern was used by special paratroopers. Almost at the same time, an almost identical Czech swamp camouflage pattern appeared for the canvas. It differs from the paratrooper pattern in that some smaller areas are not printed, so they have been left “white”. The typical dashed lines have been retained in both patterns.
In 1965 a new three-color swamp camouflage was introduced in the Czechoslovak army, which was also derived from the German models. The Czechoslovak swamp camo was intended for all seasons and also had its predecessor in swamp camouflage pattern 43, which was used for tents in Czechoslovakia from the late 1940s to the early 1950s. The Czechoslovak reprint of the swamp camouflage pattern 43 cannot be distinguished from the German original. Czechoslovak swamp camo 65 differs u. a. from the BGS swamp camo in that all colors have different shades of green. Of course, the aligned dashed line patterns are not missing either.
Marsh camouflage pattern in Bulgaria
In 1970 a three-color swamp camouflage pattern was introduced in Bulgaria, which apparently takes up elements of the SS oak leaf camouflage . This pattern was only issued to special units and is very rare. The background is printed with light gray. Medium green blobs are “sprayed” on these, with the large spots, which resemble the SS oak leaf scheme, being surrounded by small “splashes”. The typical swamp camouflage element, the linear lines, appear in the Bulgarian swamp camouflage in brick red. The pattern, also known as the "frog camo", was in use until 1994.
See also
- Flecktarn
- Splinter camo
- Strichtarn
- MARPAT (digital camo)
- Camouflage pattern
- Camouflage clothing
literature
- Daniel Peterson: camouflage uniforms of the Wehrmacht and post-war variants. Enforcer Pülz, Ubstadt-Weiher 2006, ISBN 3-939700-31-2 .
- Hans-Jürgen Schmidt: "We wear the federal eagle on our skirt ..." Chronicle of the Federal Border Police 1951–1971. Fiedler-Verlag, Coburg 1993, ISBN 3-923434-17-0 .
- Hans-Jürgen Schmidt: "We wear the federal eagle on our skirt ..." Chronicle of the Federal Border Police 1972–1992. Fiedler-Verlag, Coburg 1994, ISBN 3-923434-21-9 .
- Nigel Thomas, Stephen Andrew: The German Army 1939–45. Volume 5: Western Front 1943-45. Reprinted Edition. Osprey Publishing Limited, London 2003, ISBN 1-85532-797-X ( Men-at-arms Series 336).
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ High Command of the Army (Ed.): Allgemeine Heeresmachrichtungen , Volume 10, February 18, 1943, Item 181
- ^ Johannes Denecke: Camouflage paints of the German army 1914 to today , Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Bonn 1999, ISBN 3-7637-5990-5 , p. 53
- ^ A b Nigel Thomas, Stephen Andrew: The German Army 1939–45. Volume 5: Western Front 1943-45. (= Men-at-arms Series 336), Osprey Publishing Limited, London 2003, ISBN 1-85532-797-X , p. 22.