Soldiers Wear Camouflage (Jul, 1939)
Filed under: Impractical, Personal Appearance, Useless Tech, War — @ 4:51 pm
Source: Mechanix Illustrated ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Jul, 1939
| Buy on Ebay
Source: Mechanix Illustrated ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Jul, 1939
| Buy on Ebay
That is some pretty amazing camouflage there. Why, I almost mistook them for trees. Trees with binoculars and handguns….
Soldiers Wear Camouflage
The men in the above picture are not inhavitants of Mars. They are only British soldiers, wearing camouflage in their helmets during a mimic battle.
You see, this is why science is important. Because magic suggests to people that if they paste something on their head or carry an amulet, they will be invisible.
Science tells us that if we carry around lights and make loud noises and don’t look like trees, we will not be invisible, even if we’re muttering, “I’m a tree, you don’t see me” while walking down a street in DC.
Science, and intellect, has made these men realize that red jackets are not “fashionable” in war unless you’re fighting somewhere that is very RED. But this is the distant past, putting sticks on your head will not make you invisible.
As an aside, in basic training, there is a brief course in camoflauging yourself. I camoflauge well, despite being 6′2″ 185lbs. However, I always noticed that the shortest people, without fail, camoflauged themselves with the absolutely tallest crap. They’re crawling through low grass, and you can see the long sticks and tall plants they stuck through their LBE wherever they go.
It was mystifying. Idiotic. Other people did stuff that was clearly non-camoflauging, that made them stand out. It was unfortunate, that it was impossible to actually fail that brief course, but some people should have, on the basis of “common sense.”
At least drill sergeants were joyful to explain to those who couldn’t figure out how to blend with their surroundings the failures that were often VERY apparent to everyone else.
Comment by Marcus Shiffler — February 14, 2006 @ 7:42 am
I don’t know what you’re talking about. You mean there are actually people in that picture? I thought it was just foliage….
Oh wait!!! I see them. Damn, that’s harder than one of those stereograms where you have to cross your eyes and pray to the blurred Jesus so that you may see the light, or in most cases, the schooner.
Comment by Charlie — February 14, 2006 @ 10:22 am
[...] Dagens luke inneholder en knippe utmerkede nettsted med visjoner om framtiden. Les alt om kyr med bukser, soldater med kvister i hatten (Fortreffelig sitat fra artikkelen: dette er ikke menn fra mars, selv om det kan virke slik!), ultramoderne elektriske blyantspissere og hvordan du best kan underholde deg selv hvis du leker deg med litt kvikksølv og en knippe andre livsfarlige kjemikalier. [...]
Pingback by 2. desember: Tilbake til framtiden (retro-futuristisk design) at Magnarokk ☆☆☆ — December 3, 2006 @ 8:48 pm
Well, wearing Red actually DOES make sense, since they’re from MARS! Oh, wait, that’s right - they are NOT from Mars, its just LOOKS like they are because they have some sticks and foliage on their hats - just like the Martians do!
Comment by Minnaloushe — February 21, 2007 @ 12:58 pm
Actually this is not useless while it may seem funny while they are standing. Modern Finnish Army (and I should think other armies too) regulations still tell to do exactly the same. The point is that while laying in the ground between understorey vegetation, it is relatively easy for enemy to spot the clear borders of the helmet. Thus it is recommended to attach some brances/twigs to your helmet to break the shape of it.
Comment by JMS — September 13, 2007 @ 1:18 am
putting some twigs on your helmet is a requirement in the battlefield for most army. (as far as I know)
The real punch line is “The men in the above picture are not inhavitants of Mars” I have never been to mars but is there twigs on mars?
Comment by mr.beaver — September 29, 2007 @ 12:55 am
I think those are fractal designed antennas. For you know… communicating. Which begs the question… why does the guy in back have his pistol drawn. A tap on the shoulder should suffice at these ranges.
Comment by Leroy Jenkins — March 16, 2008 @ 3:10 am
Soldiers wear camoflauge? SHOCKING
What will they do next? Hide in bushes?
Wow, those guys are pretty savvy.
Comment by huh — July 14, 2008 @ 5:59 am
Sergent Withers, aim four inches below the Christmas twigs and we will be home by Easter!
Comment by mike — December 7, 2008 @ 3:05 am
the soldier has his gun drawn because he cant see the other soldier in the picture clearly (due to camouflage) and is ready to shoot once he sees the whites of the eyes.(also obscured by camouflage binoculars, which have twigs stuck inside the lenses to make them harder to detect.
These are indeed clever and dangerous people
Comment by Denis — February 17, 2009 @ 8:40 am