A dark grey color known as dunkelgrau (usually referred to now as panzer grey) had been used as the basic overall camouflage color on German Army vehicles and equipment since 1939, excluding the Afrika Korps.
The vast open plains of Russia, sparse in cover of any form, eventually led to abandonment of dunkelgrau as the finishing paint for vehicles and equipment in early 1943.
Dunkelgrau had been designed to provide a dark tone which would help vehicles to blend into the shadows cast by buildings and trees: in both the desert and Russia such conditions were normally absent.
Heeres Memorandum (Army Memorandum) No. 181 dated 18. February 1943, standardized the overall basic color for all vehicles and equipment on all fronts as a deep sand yellow (dunkelgelb), and from this date all new vehicles were sprayed in this color at the factories of production. Any vehicles or items of large equipment in the earlier colors were to be repainted in dunkelgelb as soon as possible, but smaller equipment carried in vehicles, such as toolboxes, radios, etc., was to be left in its original color until further notice. The existing vehicles and equipment of occupation troops, replacements and reserves, were to be repainted only if these troops were moved to front line areas, and this meant that many of the rear area troops, such as the occupation troops in France and the Low Countries, did not repaint their vehicles and equipment but kept dunkelgrau as the overall color.
The German Army of 1944-45 was in no position to expend time and energy ensuring all vehicles conformed to official instructions. Dunkelgelb was by far the most common Overall color during the 1944-45 period. Beyond such generalizations, it is not possible to say which vehicles were in dunkelgelb and which were in dunkelgrau.
The memorandum of February 1943 also introduced a new camouflage pattern painting system using two other colors, olive green (olivgrün) and a chestnut or reddish-brown (rotbraun.) This was the most sophisticated camouflage painting system so far devised and was to revolutionize the art: many modern armies now employ very similar systems. Its strength lay in the fact that there were no hard and fast patterns or even color combinations, these decisions being left entirely in the hands of the local field commanders at regimental level or even lower.
To make such a complex system possible, each vehicle was issued with a tin of olivgrün, another of rotbraun, and a third of dunkelgelb, to be applied over the basic overall color. New AFVs were issued to units with two kilogram tins of these paints as part of their equipment, while for vehicles already in service; tables were provided which listed the approximate requirements of each type of vehicle or equipment, so that the correct amounts of paint could be ordered.
Because of the nature of this system, it is not possible to allocate patterns to particular vehicle types or dates, but the photographs and color plates provide a comprehensive selection of typical examples. However, in some cases so much green was applied that it appeared to be the overall color, the dunkelgelb being reduced to a secondary or pattern paint. Rotbraun, ideal for extensive use in built-up areas, would have been useful in the battles for the major German cities in 1945.
The camouflage patterns used varied from overall dapple for wooded areas to “crazy paving” (i.e. narrow zig-zag lines) in open country, and olivgrün and rotbraun were applied in spots, stripes, splinter patterns, or large lobed areas, according to the commander's whim and the dictates of the terrain: The pattern was not important, its effectiveness was. However, some elite formations, mainly SS and Tiger II detachments, appear to have made an attempt at uniformity of pattern within their own units.
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The olivgrün, rotbraun and dunkelgelb paints were in the form of a thick, shoe polish type of paste, which could be thinned to the desired consistency by the addition of water or petrol. The type of thinner used, and the amount, naturally affected the tone of the paint, and the colors used in the field ranged from extremely dark shades, when the paste was applied crudely and virtually straight from the tin, to very light ones. The method of application also affected the tone of the colors. Tanks and other heavy vehicles were officially issued with a small spray gun as part of their equipment, the paints could also be applied by hand, using brushes, rags or even brooms for thin mixtures, and the tones varied considerably under these methods of application.
This three-color system should have given perfect camouflage painting, but in practice it did not always do so. There were a number of reasons why. The pastes themselves proved unstable when mixed with water, and even light rain could cause the colors to run together or even wash off completely. This meant that petrol had to be used to obtain a durable finish, but at this time petrol was in very short supply. In north-west Europe most commanders appear to have insisted that petrol be used for a spray application, and generally good results were obtained, but by the very nature of the system, the decision was taken at a low level and some crews used water, oil or dirty petrol, which caused a great variation in appearance and durability. There was also the difficulty of supplying all units with the pastes when petrol, ammunition, food, reinforcements and replacements had a far higher priority, and during the last stages of the war in Germany the shortages of all materials were so critical that almost all new vehicles received only their overall coat of dunkelgelb.
From early 1943, a light grey plaster, known as Zimmerit had been applied to the vertical surfaces of the hulls and turrets of most tanks and assault guns. The paste was applied in the factories before painting, and on most vehicles was 'raked' with a tool assembling a modern adhesive spreader to create a ridged pattern, though a number of criss-crossing patterns were also used. The paste was intended to roughen surfaces and prevent the placing of magnetic anti-tank hollow charges, which had become a serious menace. When the Zimmerit was painted, first with dunkelgelb and later (in the field) with olivgrün and rotbraun, the pattern of tiny ridges created thousands of small shadows which made the paint appear darker and irregular. However, the use of Zimmerit had been discontinued by the end of 1944.
Allied air superiority made it essential that all vehicles be as well hidden from aerial observation as possible, and this was achieved primarily by ensuring that all vehicles carried as much local foliage as possible, often held in place by wires rigged round the vehicle (wire mesh on the gun barrels), and, when static, by tarpaulins and camouflage nets as well as vegetation: tanks, in particular, made extensive use of nets during prolonged halts, at assembly points, in ambushes, and when undergoing repairs.
In addition, hundreds of camouflaged shelters were built along the roadsides, especially in northern France, so that vehicles could dive for cover when aircraft approached. Where no such shelters existed, vehicles made use of the shadow from roadside hedges and trees, and all movement stopped until the aircraft had passed.
Heeres Memorandum No. 1128 of 18. November 1941 had introduced a washable white paint for camouflage purposes in snow conditions on the eastern front, and this paint was available in north-west Europe in fair amounts during the winter of 1944-45. Usually it was applied in some haste and mostly by crude methods thrown by the bucketful and spread with brooms being a quite common method. This, together with the effects of weather and wear, resulted in most snow camouflaged vehicles having a patchy appearance, with the original paint finish showing through in many places, but this was as good, if not a better camouflage, than the overall white would have been.
