British ETO Sniper Suit (1940’s)

Camouflage, Cold War, Early Cold War (1945 - 1968), France, Great Britain and Commonwealth, United States, World War 2 (1939 - 1945), WW2

These uniforms were made in Britain for the US Army as part of the reverse Lend-Lease agreement [1][2]. The camouflage pattern is the same “frogskin” or “duck hunter” that was more commonly used in the Pacific during WW2 by the US Marines[3].

Jacket:

The uniform is fully reversible with a “green”, “jungle” or “summer” side and a “brown”, “beach” or “autumn” side.

Every part of the uniform is constructed so that the opposite side is invisible when worn.

Pockets:

The “brown” side’s pockets are slightly larger.

The large chest pockets are sewn on top of each other on opposite sides. They are similar in layout to the olive drab “second pattern” HBT utilities [4]. There is normally a British-style tag, with broad arrow marking, under the left pocket flap (as worn) but it has fallen off of this example. The Dutch version produced after the war for their Korps Commandotroepen has a similar cut and twill fabric, but is not reversible at all.

Inside:

Since the uniform is perfectly reversible, there is not any real “inside”. The buttons were also laid out so that they are covered when fastened, regardless of which side is worn on the outside.

Buttons:

Same type of flat plastic dish buttons found on British battledress and later British and commonwealth items.

Cuffs:

Usage Photos:

World War 2:

This type of camouflage was used for training exercises by OPFOR (opposing forces) portraying Germans.

Photo of a British training exercise from the book Waffen SS by Martin Windrow [5].

It was only used very sporadically in the Normandy campaign, mainly by the US Army’s 2nd Armor Division, particularly the 41st Armored Infantry Regiment. Most sources say they were withdrawn due to friendly fire incidents, but this is disputed, and there are images of frogskin camouflage being used as late as September 1944 [6].

July 1944: Camouflaged U.S. Soldiers of the 41st Armored Infantry Battalion working with the 82nd Reconnaissance Battalion (2nd Armored Division) study a captured German map, during Operation Cobra, the Breakout of Normandy, France [7].
September 9, 1944: Members of the 2nd Infantry Division advance under machine gun fire into the outskirts of Brest, France [8].

It is possible that the soldiers above are wearing the US-made version of the uniform.

French Indochina War:

2 BEP (2e Bataillon Etranger de Parachutistes), and many other French Foreign Legion units, extensively used duck hunter patterned items in both USMC and Army cuts during the French Indochina War.

Note British windproof trousers.
All photos above from [9] and were likely taken between 1950 – 1953 [10].
November/December 1952: French trooper awaiting airlift to Na San. The individual appears to be Sgt. Fabretti from the 4th Company of 2/1 RCP (2nd Battalion, 1e Régiment de Chasseurs Parachutistes)[11].[12][13] The jacket in the picture has exposed pocket dish buttons, indicating it is the British-made version.