Camoufleurs And the Art of War

Artists use optical illusions to win wars and save lives.

- By Elizabeth Tracy

In the spring of 1918, strange things were afoot in New York City's Van Cortland Park. Rocks and trees were moving and calling out across the landscape. “I stumbled over a hump of grass, which squealed when I stepped on it, and rose before me, wrote journalist Elene Foster in the New York Tribune. Foster wasn't hallucinating. She was witnessing a specialized military unit in action. They were developing new techniques to protect American troops in World War I.

The talking trees were members of the Women's Reserve Camouflage Corps, volunteer camoufleurs trained in the new military science of camouflage. These words come from the French word camoufleur, which means to disguise. The women had learned camouflage techniques from Lieutenant H. Ledyard Towle, a U.S. Army officer and artist, and were testing outfits designed to trick the eye. The camoufleurs included working artists like painters, sculptors, photographers, and woodcarvers. At a time when women weren't allowed in the armed forces, or even to vote, working in the military was unheard of. But as men went to fight at the front, women assumed crucial roles in the war effort.

World War I and Early Camouflage