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Subversive Patterning: The Surficial Qualities of Camouflage

Author

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  • Isla Forsyth

    (School of Geography, Sir Clive Granger Building, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, England)

Abstract

During the mid-20th century there was new utility in combining scientific, artistic, and military knowledge for the development of effective military camouflage. When WWII was declared the military began recruiting seemingly disparate specialists, such as surrealist artists, a zoologist, and a magician to train in concealment: to become camoufleurs. Across diverse environments and battlefields these camoufleurs plied their trade of secrecy, in the process militarising landscapes and their knowledges. This paper will explore how camouflage was developed for different interrelated surfaces during war, whether for the sea in WWI, the earth, or in response to aerial warfare. In particular this paper will explore the surface of sand in the Desert War in WWII, which demanded a new relationship between modern militarism and knowledge of the earth's surface, in order to develop effective camouflage. In turn, it will reveal that camouflage was a defining factor influencing the geographies of the desert as a theatre of war, transforming it into a bewildering topography requiring, as one soldier put it, ‘mental guts’.

Suggested Citation

  • Isla Forsyth, 2013. "Subversive Patterning: The Surficial Qualities of Camouflage," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 45(5), pages 1037-1052, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:45:y:2013:i:5:p:1037-1052
    DOI: 10.1068/a44468
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Stephen Graham, 2009. "Cities as Battlespace: The New Military Urbanism," City, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(4), pages 383-402, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Isla Forsyth & Hayden Lorimer & Peter Merriman & James Robinson, 2013. "Guest Editorial," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 45(5), pages 1013-1020, May.
    2. James Philip Robinson, 2013. "‘Darkened Surfaces’: Camouflage and the Nocturnal Observation of Britain, 1941–45," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 45(5), pages 1053-1069, May.

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