Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1940-10-03
Camouf|age Tactics
Are Used in Big Way
By Canadian Army
Troops and Guns Rise
Suddenly in Fields;
Strike and Vanish
BY HAL OTLAHERTY.
Special Dispatch to the Chicago Daily News
and The Washington Star

BY HAL OFLAHERTY.
Special Dispatch to the Chicago Daily News
and The Washington Star.
QUEBEC, Que.-Approaching a
lightly timbered stretch of Canadian
hill country north of this city,
group of American and Canadian
newspapermen were asked to try to
locate signs of military activity. To
the right and left was heavy timber.
Extending far ahead into the dis
lance was rolling meadow with
occasional patches of underbrush or
high grass. No movement of any
kind could be detected. Not single
CLINT of steel. Not even the top of a
tin helmet.
A bugle sounded, and from the
plain, like phantoms in nightmare,
rose literally thousands of fully
equipped soldiers Machine-gun
platoons advanced on the double,
throwing aside their camouflage of
twigs and leaves. Infantry with
bayonets fixed moved forward as
under actual battle conditions. Field
guns poked momentarily from I'M
der perfect protective covering to
bark at an unseen enemy. Trucks
and caissonS of all descriptions
moved from under the protection of
cut boughs and piles of saplings.
Canada has gone far in the pro-
lection of its rapidly growing armies
by teaching an elaborate method of
camouf1age. 1t is emphasized on
every hand. The infantry and ar
tillery, the machine gunners and all
OF the wheeled equipment must learn
to become invisible from the air
and from approaching enemies.
This modern adaptation of the
methods used in early American In
dian fighting has reached an aston
ishing perfection.
Machine Guns Under Foot.
Before the eyes of unbelieving
correspondents whole artillery units
opened fire within a few feet with
out even having divulged their pres
ence. Machine guns poked out from
beneath leaves almost under foot
with the crews smiling through
the sights at the visitors.
Then, upon a long drawn call
from a bugler, the magic was re-
versed. Quickly the human forms
sank again into the ground. Guns
receded, glinted momentarily and
disappeared. Trucks of every sort
swayed and bumped back into the
lightly wooded areas and seemingly
OF their own power, without help
from drivers or surrounding troops,
faded from view completely. Only
seconds had elapsed since the long
note of warning from the bugle-
and yet an entire advancing army
had evaporated before our eyes.
Driving rapidly over new roads,
we saw this miraculous evolution
time and again. Approaching a dip
in the road with absolutely no sign
of military activity, we would be
confronted by charging horde of
bayonets which leaped out of what
had appeared to be a swamp Again.
on a barren plain with virtually no
cover of any kind, thousands Of
armed men suddenly would spring
to life. AS We passed and looked
back they faded from view and the
plain again was vacant of any life.
Must Hide From Planes.
This is the new warfare for in
fantry and artillery The airplane
has made the movement of troops
far more dangerous than ever be-
fore in the history of mans dia-
bolical schemes for massed murder.
Low-f1ying planes can and do use
both machine guns and bombs on
advancing troops, and it is now the
task of army leaders to save life
by teaching the art of camouflage
to every unit of the army.
The various methods are artful
in the extreme Small nets that
can be carried like a lunch package
easily cover a machine gun nest.
Hoods of protective coloring are
part of every soldiers kit. The
quick use of local materials is not
overlooked. Many of the men will
rub their hands over a burnt stump
as they pass and the next instant
a face has completely vanished.
under coat of black.
The most ingenious use of travel
ing targets is another of Canada's
additions to the training of gunners.
Across rocky plain utterly devoid
Of artillery suddenly appears a tank
made Of cloth and drawn on a track
by rope and pulleys. 1t dives into
ravines and reappears. Then, with
out warning, an anti-tank gun of
new design and extraordinary strik-
ing power begins to bark. Tracer
bullets fly through the target and
bounce high in the air beyond.
Three-inch guns register on the
tank and send up plumes of black
nigh explosive smoke. From high
point of ground the observer can see
none of the guns. All are hidden.
Canadians will take to Europe the
Indians skill in firing from cover,
and Canada's losses of man power
will thereby be greatly reduced.
These are some of the lessons
earned on Flanders field as Ger