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A German soldier wearing 1939 M sátorlap-esögallér. The design featured on the Hungarian M39 shelter half was a soft-edged version of the camouflage pattern seen on the 1938 M sátorlap-esögallér. [Image: Daniel Peterson/The Crowood Press Ltd.]

1939 M sátorlap-esögallér camouflage
Kingdom of Hungary

The 1938 M sátorlap-esögallér (M38 shelter half) was the first standard camouflage garment to be widely issued to soldiers of the Royal Hungarian Army. Like the Zeltbahn 31, the 1938 M sátorlap-esögallér was a a multipurpose camouflage item that could be worn as an individual camouflage poncho or used to construct a shelter.

Based on the 1929 Telo Mimetico ('camouflage cloth') pattern, the design featured on the Hungarian M38 shelter half was a three-colour pattern, comprising hard-edged green and maroon shapes on a light tan background.

In his book Waffen SS Camouflage Uniforms & Post-War Derivatives, author Daniel Peterson claims that this camouflage pattern was soon followed by a burred-edge pattern, which was featured on the 1939 M sátorlap-esögallér (M39 shelter half). Like the design seen on the M38 shelter half, this 1939 pattern was a three-colour camouflage pattern, comprising soft-edged dark brown and sage green elements on a light tan background.

Tamás Baczoni, of the Museum of Military History, Hungary, has not seen any surviving examples of soft-edged pattern shelter halves that pre-date 1944. He concedes, however, that it is possible the soft-edge pattern shelter-halves were produced earlier, since the 1939 regulations direct that shelter-halves should be made either in hard edge or in soft edge pattern camouflage. Mr Baczoni adds that contemporary photos of World War 2 Hungarian soldiers show that most were equipped with hard-edge patterned shelter halves.

kamouflage.net is grateful to Tamás Baczoni, for his invaluable contributions to this article.

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