Air Fronts: Air Defense FM 5-20F; Camouflage of Antiaircraft Artillery - 2. Choice of Position

The area within which an individual battery is to operate is usually determined by the comprehensive plan for defense of an objective.

The exact position for the elements of a battery, within the area assigned, must possess several qualifications: a clear field of fire, room for dispersion of guns, directors, vehicles, and other equipment, opportunity for establishment of communications, access and supply routes, and possibilities for concealment from hostile observation. These same requirements must be considered when selecting alternate positions.

The most important step in concealing an AAA position is to blend the pattern of the installation with the existing terrain pattern. Terrain patterns may be natural or artificial or a combination of both. Whatever the type of pattern and wherever it may be, whether in fields broken by hedges and clumps of trees, in farmland, in barren or wooded terrain, or in towns, the unit layout is adapted to fit into it inconspicuously to the extent the unit's mission will allow.

It is axiomatic that the better the layout fits the terrain pattern, the less is the work required to obtain good concealment and camouflage discipline.

RECONNAISSANCE

During reconnaissance of the area before an AAA battery moves into position, careful consideration is given to concealment of the various elements of the battery. If practicable, choose a location for each gun so it may be made to seem a part of an existing clump of bushes, a scrap heap, a group of small buildings, or an irregular formation in the terrain. Symmetry in the layout of a battery must be avoided unless the pattern of the area is symmetrical. Fire-control instruments are emplaced to take the utmost advantage of the terrain pattern within the practicable limits of parallax corrections and cable lengths.

Headquarters and service units in the vicinity of firing units are located in concealed and dispersed positions. When practicable, such units, supply points, bivouacs, vehicle parks, and similar installations should be located far enough from firing units so that discovery of the former does not reveal the latter, and so that fire intended for one does not fall on the other.

FIELD OF FIRE

FIGURE 11.—An ideal field of fire should be clear from 0° to 90° vertically, and through 360° horizontally, but circumstances may dictate modification. Fire-control instruments need a similarly clear field of view. All-around field of fire and unobstructed field of view are primary considerations in locating AAA units. To sacrifice these requirements materially may seriously interfere with the accomplishment of the assigned mission.

COMMUNICATIONS

From the air, cable communication lines are often revealed by the paths worn in placing and maintaining them or by ground scars made in burying them. These signs of their presence may attract attention to an otherwise well-concealed installation. The network of cables from the director to the guns tends to form an unusual pattern.

FIGURE 12 (1).-Aerial view of 90-mm battery and range section well sited in farm terrain. However, cables have been laid without regard to existing ground pattern. An experienced aerial observer or photo interpreter could immediately identify the position by these cable lines.

(2).—Cables laid to follow natural lines in the terrain. Cable network becomes part of existing network in boundary lines, hedges, and roads, and terrain remains normal in appearance. Lengths of cable available govern disposition of battery elements as well as pattern of cable layout.

FIGURE 13 (1) and (2).

ACCESS ROUTES   

It is highly desirable that a battery be located in the vicinity of good roads, with routes available to the front, flanks, and rear. This is especially important in situations where it may be necessary to make a sudden change of position.

When personnel, ammunition, equipment, and other supplies are moved into a position, they must follow a prepared traffic-circulation plan. Traffic signs are posted, and routes within the position are wired or taped in. Traffic loops are established before the position is occupied. Where access routes do not exist, the number of new access and interior routes is kept to a minimum, and they are planned and created carefully to conform to the surrounding terrain pattern. New tracks which are carelessly made will be seen from the air and will point like arrows to the position. Routes of approach pass near gun and accessory locations and do not come to a dead end at any element.

Figure 13 (1) is a view of an area before occupation by a 40-mm AA gun. Figure 13 (2) is an occupation plan of the same area, showing access routes. The gun is sited at a point of dark ground cover adjacent to a furrowed field, taking advantage of the low brush which absorbs the dark shadows of the position. A new access route leaves an existing road and follows the edge of the field, where it is unnoticed. The machine-gun position is selected at one side of the field, and its access path follows the field boundary to the access route for the 40-mm emplacement.

BLENDING WITH THE TERRAIN

Every type of terrain and every area within it has an individual pattern when seen from the air. The aim of blending is to fit a position into an area with the least possible change in the normal appearance of the area. The first step in blending an installation with the terrain is to study the features of the pattern and to decide which can aid and which will hinder concealment.

Camouflage methods used to blend the shape, shadow, and texture of an object with its surroundings vary in different types of terrain. On the next few pages are several typical problems and ways of blending with the terrain under various conditions.

OPEN TERRAIN

From the air, barren terrain has a mottled pattern, the product of scattered scrub growth, rock outcrops, and irregular ground formations, which is easily able to absorb the pattern of guns and auxiliary units of AAA battery. Choosing a good AAA position in this kind of terrain is largely a matter of choosing access routes which blend with the terrain pattern. In figure 14 (1), the tracks running from the high-way to the upper left are incorrectly blended with the terrain pattern and are easy to see from the air, cutting across the lines of numerous smalI drainage channels. In the same photograph, the tracks indicated by an arrow follow the ridge above the highway and fade almost completely into the terrain pattern. The overlay in figure 14 suggests a layout for an AAA battery position. All elements are located so that they could be connected by a single line of new tracks following the terrain pattern. Against this mottled pattern, both battery and tracks would be hard to see.

FIGURE 14 (1).

FIGURE 14 (2).

To accomplish their missions, most elements of an AAA battery must have an uninterrupted field of view, and for this reason open terrain has many advantages. However, since the concealment offered by open terrain is hard to discern from the ground, extra care must be taken to seek out even the smallest changes in ground texture and to place guns and equipment on a boundary line between these changes.

FIGURE 15 (1).—An SCR 268 unit sited on light, even ground texture contrasts with terrain pattern. Tracks point to position.

(2).—Unit is less conspicuous. Position and tracks are now along boundary line of a field, which is a dark feature of the terrain pattern.

FIGURE 16 (1).

FARM LANDS

Agricultural terrain usually offers excellent opportunities for concealment of new tracks and paths. It almost always possesses a close-knit system of roads, which provide good access.

Figure 16 (1) and (2) is a farm area and a suggested layout of a 90-mm AA battery within it. Full advantage is taken of natural lines and breaks in texture in the terrain pattern for gun positions, auxiliary equipment, cable lines, and access routes. Power plants are concealed under existing natural overhead cover. Several alternate layouts can be arranged in this area with equal effectiveness.

FIGURE 16 (2).

FIGURE 17.

In figure 17 no attempt has been made to blend the position with the terrain pattern. The arc arrangement of guns is unrelated to its surroundings and the position becomes a prominent landmark.

Figure 18 shows a different layout in the same type of terrain, providing an equally good field of fire plus a high degree of concealment. Figure 18 (2) is a closeup of two guns of the battery as seen by a plane approaching at a low altitude from the left of the view in figure 18 (1).

 
FIGURE 18 (1) and (2).

FIGURE 19 (1).—Circular-shaped 90-mm gun em-placements and flowing lines of paths and tracks are entirely out of harmony with the pattern of geometrical shapes in this waterfront area. Opportunities for concealment by blending with the surroundings have been completely disregarded.

(2).—Elements of battery are blended into background pattern. New tracks are located so they appear to be part of street system. Gun emplacements are angular.

TOWNS

AAA positions in a town must be made inconspicuous. Their presence arouses enemy suspicions and often is a clue to important targets.

The pattern of urban areas is usually so fulI of variety that little difficulty is experienced in blending battery layouts into them. How-ever, extensive reconnaissance is sometimes required to find sites that provide suitable fields of fire as well as adequate concealment.

INDUSTRIAL AREAS

Key industrial areas, harbor and dock facilities, and railroad centers are usually protected by AAA batteries. Often important industrial objectives are well camouflaged, and extreme precautions must be taken to prevent an AAA installation from betraying the area it protects. In situations of this kind, the pattern of massed buildings of various sizes and the network of communication lines offer a confusion of geometric shapes into which the elements of an AAA installation are easily blended.

FIGURE 20 (1).—Area in center of right side of photograph is a supply yard. It offers a good pattern for blending but compromises must be made with fields of fire.

(2).—Suggested layout of 90-mm battery in same area. Guns are located in clearest areas to lessen masking effect of buildings. Two .50-caliber machine guns are located in railroad yards and two more are sited on roofs; roof locations are necessary for low-angle fire against strafing planes. Director and height finder are also located on roof tops.

RUINS

AAA elements laid out among ruins and debris must blend with a cluttered background. The lines of a wrecked building are rough and jagged. To create an irregular outline which matches them, sandbags are distributed haphazardly on and around a revetment. Scraps of timber, metal, and other debris are scattered irregularly to break up the straight lines of guns, auxiliary equipment, and their shadows when seen from the air.

FIGURE 21 (1).—Outskirts of war-torn village provide a pattern in which it is easy to conceal an AAA battery. In this illustration, no effort has been made to take advantage of the concealment features available.

FIGURE 21 (2) .—Aerial view showing spotted pattern of shell holes, ruined buildings, and debris. Within this confusion are many effective locations for a battery layout.

SNOW

From a concealment point of view, snow usually obliterates many of the most useful features of the terrain pattern. It is important, there-fore, to use wisely those features which remain, such as brush, clumps of trees, streams, roads, irregular ground formations, and the edges of snow drifts—especially where they cast strong shadows. Fence lines and other normal terrain lines are followed for access routes. Wheel tracks are leveled out to reduce shadows within them. Snow can be shoveled over blast marks resulting from ground fire.

FIGURE 22 (1).—Typical snow-covered area—difficult terrain in which to conceal a battery.
(2).—One solution. Position is near road and towing distances are kept to a minimum. Guns are sited among scattered trees and bushes. Access paths continue past each gun. Cables to range section follow path to road, run parallel with road to clump of trees, where they are strung overhead across road. Cable should never be laid where it may be struck by snow plow. Range section makes use of slight pattern in open.