Joseph Gray's Camouflage

A Memoir of Art, Love and Deception

Mary Horlock

• Publisher: Unbound
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9781783524686
• eBook ISBN: 9781783524679
• Topic: Art
• Subtopic: Art Techniques

'Art? What has art ever done for us as a family?' In the First World War, artist-soldier Joseph Gray drew and painted scenes of battle, his illustrations appearing in the popular press and his canvases sold to museums. But after struggling through the next decade and facing the threat of another war, Joseph had found a secret new calling: the art of camouflage.As he went from representing reality to disguising it, Joseph's growing interest in camouflage concealed another, deeper subterfuge. He was leading a double life, and would eventually leave his family for the woman that he loved. Joseph Gray's Camouflage is a multi-layered story of art, war, love and deception. Beyond attempting to pin down the image of a man who eludes us at every turn, it also traces the development of camouflage between the two wars and shines a light on the unlikely band of artists who made it happen.Though private letters, diaries, archives and interviews Joseph's great-granddaughter Mary Horlock pieces together the truth that was once lost, and brings his far-from-ordinary life back into focus.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• By the Same Author
• Dedication
• Special Thanks
• Contents
• Preface
• 1 A Stands for Aeroplane: his is the Eye That Camouflage Tries to Defeat; This is Why
• 2 B is for Bomber: He’s Coming So Fast, If He Can’t See You Quickly, Why, Dammit, He’s Past
• 3 C is for Camera. Try to Confuse The Enemy’s Reading of Aerial Views
• 4 D is Deception, which Plainly Implies You’ve Got to Tell Jerry Some Credible Lies
• 5 E is for Enemy: Keep Him in Doubt When you must Make a Mess What That Mess is About
• 6 F is for False Work, which will Serve to Distract The Enemy’s Eye from the Genuine Fact
• 7 G is for Garnishing, This should Be wound To Copy the Texture and Tone of the Ground
• 8 H is for Hiding, So Please Keep it Dark, and Remember to Go in the Shade When You Park
• 9 I is for Invention, Consider the New Ways to Conceal Our Secrets from View
• 10 J is the Job which has Got to Be done: The Camoufleur Knows It and so does the Hun
• 11 K is the Knowledge of how to Combine Doing the Job with Leaving No Sign
• 12 L is for Lay-Out: the Way that you Face Is of Vital Importance So Choose the Right Place
• 13 M is for Maintenance of the Disguise: Leaving Covers Unchecked is Always Unwise
• 14 N is for Nets which are Simply a Frame For the Garnishing on them, So Garnish the Same
• 15 O is Opacity Over the Gun, You Must Garnish Opaquely, but Think of the Sun
• 16 P is for People Moving Around, Do so at Night and Merge with the Ground
• 17 Q is the Question you cannot Decide, But the Camouflage Officer’s there as a Guide
• 18 R is for Regularity, Huts in a Row, Or Guns Equidistant are Certain to Show
• 19 S Stands for Siting, for Spoil or for Scrim: 3 Covers 2 but on 1 Sink or Swim
• 20 T is for Tracks, which will Photograph Light, and Disclose your Activities; Keep them from Sight
• 21 U is the Use you make of Dummies, So the Enemy can Never Trust What He Sees
• 22 V is for Vision, This Means more than Sight, Use a Strategy to Keep Your Scheme Tight
• 23 W is for Waste. Please do not Forget Steel Wool is much Harder to Replace than a Net
• 24 X is for Extras, There will Always Be Some, But Think Economically to Get the Job Done
• 25 Y is for You, Sir, on whom will Depend The Success or the Failure of All in the End
• 26 Z is for Zeal with which you Apply These Few Simple Principles – do have a Try
• Retrospective
• An Ending
• Select Bibliography
• Acknowledgements
• Index
• Supporters
• Copyright