"Bunkers and Pillboxes - camo paint or concrete gray?" Topic

Were the bunkers and pillboxes on the Western Front in W.W. I painted in camo colors or left natural gray?

Were they camo'd at all with nets or other debris?

Thanks in advance.

Yes.

All of the above, from what I've read.

Non-hardened positions were often covered with camouflage netting, for example gun pits for artillery. Camo nets were also used when creating bunkers that were being dug into the ground. Once the bunkers were completed or the elephant shelters were dug in then they would be covered over with earth and turf. Occasionally, above ground pillboxes were covered in turf if they were low to the ground. Hardened shelters or observation posts were frequently created inside existing buildings. No attempts were made to disguise the above ground MEBUs and pillboxes in the Ypres sector for example. They were simply designed to be impervious to anything but a massive shell landing in the immediate vicinity.

Robert

….. You might be interested in the book "Pill Boxes on the Western Front – A Guide to the Design, Construction and Use of Concrete Pill Boxes 1914-1918" by Peter Oldham; Leo Cooper publishers; 1995.

B

….. FWIW – The above ground nature of pill boxes and concrete shelters on the Ypres front was largely dictated by the very high water table.

B