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Uncover your potential', indeed! Once you stop ogling the girl, though, you might notice that this Australian Special Air Service (SAS) recruiting poster shows Australian Disruptive Pattern Camouflage to very good effect. [Image courtesy Brad Turner collection.]

1953 splinter pattern camouflage
People's Republic of Bulgaria

After World War II, several nations adopted splinter pattern camouflages similar to those used by the German Wehrmacht. Also known as '1st pattern' camouflage, this earliest Bulgarian splinter pattern is a case in point. The size of the splinter elements suggests that it was closely copied from the wartime German Luftwaffe-Splittermuster 41 ('1941 Luftwaffe splinter pattern').

There are, however, several significant differences. Although the Bulgarian '1st pattern' camouflage incorporates the brown and medium green splinter elements and grey-green background that were characteristic of the original German camouflage pattern, the dashes used are quite distinctive. They are wavy, rather than straight; and this characteristic is seen throughout the evolution of Bulgarian splinter pattern camouflage, even to the present day. Moreover, they were printed with the same roller as the green splinter elements, which makes the '1st pattern' camouflage a three-colour design, whereas the Luftwaffe-Splittermuster was a four-colour pattern. Finally, the brown splinter elements were printed after the green elements, so that the dashes are often overprinted by them.

The 1953 splinter pattern was typically applied to one-piece coveralls, which were considered 'special purpose' garments, issued only to paratroopers or other special operations personnel.

kamouflage.net is grateful to Eric H. Larson, for his invaluable contribution to this article.

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