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Marine Raiders on Bougainville, Solomon Islands, January 1944. A wide variety of items were produced in U.S. jungle camouflage, including coveralls, helmet covers, shelter halves, shirts, pants and backpacks. [Image: Olive-Drab: Military Information Home Page.]

brown U.S. jungle camouflage
United States of America

In 1942, the United States Army was issued a one=piece reversible camouflage suit for wear in the jungles of the Pacific Theatre. Not long after, the United States Marine Corps was issued a similar one-piece jungle suit.

In spite of minor differences in the actual uniforms, the fabric used for both appears to have been the same, with a green camouflage pattern printed on one side and a brown pattern printed on the other. The brown pattern, shown here, was a five-colour 'duck hunter' style camouflage, comprising irregular beige, earth brown, khaki and tan blobs on a light beige background.

Although it seems natural to assume that this camouflage garment should provide concealment in the jungles of the South Pacific, Marine units actually claimed that plain olive drab clothing was less visible, when troops were moving. The camouflage, they said, was effective only while stationary.

Another complaint, raised by both the Army and the Marine Corps, concerned the need to undress in order to perform bodily functions, which exposed bare skin to insects, leeches and thorns. Thus the one-piece coveralls gave way to a Marine Corps designed two-piece camouflage uniform, late in 1942 or early in 1943. The two-piece camouflage uniform was further refined in 1944.

A wide variety of items were produced in U.S. jungle camouflage, including coveralls, helmet covers, shelter halves, shirts, pants and backpacks. The distribution of these items among Army and Marines units was by no means uniform, although it is worth noting that most USMC units in the field received the camouflage shelter half, even if no other camouflage items were issued.

Although the U.S. jungle camouflage was developed for use in the Pacific Theatre, anecdotal evidence suggests that it also saw some use in Europe: there is a persistent story that a U.S. Army unit operating in Normandy came under 'friendly fire' because the camouflage they wore was mistaken for Waffen-SS camouflage uniforms. The pattern was also used during the Korean War.

kamouflage.net is grateful to Steve Grammont, for his invaluable contributions to this article.

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