Why weren't Soviet soldiers dressed in camouflage on the battlefields?

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

If you look at the soldiers of different armies of the Second World War, for example, the soldiers of the Red Army and the Wehrmacht, you get the impression that in those days there was no camouflage. In fact, there was camouflage, but most often it did not rely on ordinary soldiers. The reason for this situation was not at all that the "bloody command" wanted to "put" as many men as possible on the field

In fact, the assertion that soldiers did not use camouflage during World War II is fundamentally wrong. Camouflage uniforms and equipment were in all armies of the world, including the Red Army and the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany. However, the prevalence of camouflage uniforms was much lower than in modern armies, where almost all of the military personnel are dressed in camouflage in one way or another. There were reasons for this, primarily production.

In fact, the first camouflage uniform appeared before the First World War. After it, camouflage began to actively develop. Many universities around the world have been researching colors and designs for military uniforms. However, the production of camouflage in those days remained a relatively complex process.

Moreover, the field uniform of green, earthen, sandy and gray color, which was used in the ground forces of different countries, fully met the necessary demands of the troops in the field of camouflage in the existing realities of warfare. In most cases, camouflage uniforms were relied on only for specialist units.

In the Soviet Union, camouflage and camouflage capes were worn by sappers, snipers, soldiers of reconnaissance and sabotage units, as well as soldiers of the border troops. The most widespread type of camouflage at the start of the war was the Amoeba, developed back in 1935. This was available in the colors "summer", "spring-autumn", "desert", "mountains". In winter, the army used white camouflage robes.

In 1942, a new camouflage suit "Deciduous Forest" appeared in the Red Army, and in 1944 - "Palma". The latter was available in four colors for each season of the year. These robes were worn mainly by scouts, snipers and sappers.

The situation was similar in Germany. The first “Splittertarnmuster” camouflage was put into service back in 1931. The most popular element of the camouflage uniform was the "Zeltbahn - 31" cape, which was widely used by the German troops. In 1938, a camouflage suit and helmet cover for snipers was developed in Germany. They were used throughout the war.

The most widely used camouflage in Germany was not at all by the Wehrmacht, but by units of the Waffen-SS. For the fighters of these formations, the best camouflage uniform in Germany was developed. At the same time, the Reich command assumed (at the beginning of the war) that by 1945 all troops would be dressed in camouflage uniforms. However, in fact, camouflage in Germany was worn by the same "specialists": snipers, scouts, saboteurs, paratroopers, sappers, anti-partisan formations.

Serious restrictions on the production of camouflage in Germany throughout the war were imposed by the supply of high quality cotton fabric. Regarding the requests of the SS and the Wehrmacht, they were critically small throughout the Second World War. In 1943, cotton ceased to be supplied to Germany altogether, as a result of which the production of camouflage had to be transferred to the use of cotton fabric.

Camouflage was widely used all over the world only by the 1960s, when industrial production reached the proper level of development for mass production of this form, and the style of warfare completely departed from what we are used to seeing in the First and Second World Wars.