kamouflage.net camouflage data

A soldier of the Koninklijke Landmacht (Royal Netherlands Army), in Bosnia–Herzogovina as part of NATO's Stabilisation Force (SFOR). Apart from minor differences in the colours, his camouflage is identical to British DPM. [Image: www.landmacht.nl.]

Dutch DPM
Kingdom of the Netherlands

The Koninklijke Landmacht ('Royal Land Defence') briefly adopted Flecktarn in the mid-1980s, shortly after its introduction by the Bundeswehr. The German camouflage pattern's use was short-lived, however, and the reasons for its rejection are not widely understood. When he asked a Dutch army officer about the matter, author Daniel Peterson was only told that 'it looked too aggressive'.

However Jerry de Rijke, who was a conscript in the Koninklijke Landmacht during the period in which two camouflage patterns were tested, offers a different explanation:

The real reason for the Dutch choice for the woodland pattern is less politically correct. The Dutch soldiers testing the Flecktarn pattern knew it was of German origin. This was enough reason for the soldiers to diqualify the pattern, as they claimed it looked like 'a flower curtain' and reminded them of WW2 SS camouflage. Their claims were supported by high-ranking Dutch officers, who didn't want Dutch soldiers beeing mistaken for German soldiers, especially when operating abroad. Therefore, the real reason for the Dutch choice for the woodland pattern has more to do with the traditional Dutch resentment against the Germans than the 'agressive' look of the Flecktarn pattern.

Whatever the reasons might actually have been, Flecktarn was replaced, in the late 1980s, by a locally-produced version of 1984 British DPM. Apart from the absence of dots, around the edges of the shapes, some minor variations in the shapes and the colours used, this Dutch DPM is identical to the British pattern — a four-colour camouflage, consisting of broad black, earth brown and medium green 'brush-strokes' on a light khaki background.

kamouflage.net is grateful to Jerry de Rijke, Henrik Clausen and Chris Palfrey, for their invaluable constributions to this article.

camouflage data