17-016 Garand Picture of the Day

[Mark in Rochester]

Marine Machine Gunners in Action on Eniwetok

Information

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[matthanne1]

Pardon my ignorance, but what was the purpose of the black and white (or looks that way) panels on the backs of the two Marines in the first picture? Local c/c or is this a range (judging by the relaxed attitude of the BAR gunner)?

[Mark in Rochester]

"Follow me"

In the movie pork chop hill Lt. Suki Ohashi's wears an orange panel maker as a vest also this is reported in the Book by S.L.A. Marshal as a tool for the platoon to ID him.




From USmilitariafourm.com

I stalled when it came to finishing the two tone cloth panel worn by 7th Division soldiers on Kwajalein. I had searched high and low for good references. I had looked at dozens of period photos and film footage. The trouble was, it was all in black & white, so I was unsure what colors were right. And then a book on the campaign came out with an illustration showing that the panels as red and white. So I went ahead. On the left is how it first came out. Since then, I discovered more references including an article by the Company of Military Historians and some color footage shown in WW2 in HD. The dark sections actually seem to be a blue black color. I repainted the panel. I tried to tint some black paint with a bit of blue, but it looks all black. I may try to dry brush a bit of blue on these sections...





ID panels in use at 9:00 battle for marshal islands

Judging by the video it appears that the leading elements of the attack wore the identification panels vs Lt. Ohashi's use to id himself to his troops

[browningautorifle]

Lt. Suki Ohashi's wears an orange panel maker as a vest

It was also spoken of during live interview with his platoon Sgt and troops. He also wore his rank in the face of the enemy.

[Mark in Rochester]

many examples of identification panels can be found through history

The Nelson Chequer was a colour scheme adopted by vessels of the Royal Navy, modelled on that used by Admiral Horatio Nelson. It consisted of bands of black and yellow paint along the sides broken up by black gunports. Nelson, apparently, used the same style for all vessels under his command "to be distinguished with greater certainty in case of falling in with an enemy".:171 After the Battle of Trafalgar all vessels in the Royal Navy generally sported this pattern, though it was not mandated and some captains changed it. Nelson's flagship, HMS Victory, was painted with a more traditional scheme of black with yellow stripes along the level of the gunports in Chatham in 1800. Nelson later had the gunports painted black as well, creating the distinctive chequer pattern. In spite of Nelson's desire to distinguish vessels by means of this colouring, it was also found among vessels of other navies, including some ships of the United States Navy by the time of the War of 1812. It is suggested by Sam Willis in The Fighting Temeraire that the black gunports were intended to make them appear opened, and so the ship would appear more intimidating from a distance.

Invasion stripes were alternating black and white bands painted on the fuselages and wings of World War II Allied aircraft, for the purpose of increased recognition by friendly forces (and thus reduced friendly fire incidents) during and after the Normandy Landings. The bands, consisting of three white and two black bands, wrapped around the rear of an aircraft fuselage just in front of the empennage (tail) and from front to back around both the upper and lower surfaces of the wings.

Stripes were applied to fighters, photo-reconnaissance aircraft, troop carriers, twin-engined medium and light bombers, and some special duty aircraft, but were not painted on four-engined heavy bombers of the U.S. Eighth Air Force or RAF Bomber Command, as there was little chance of mistaken identity — few such bombers existed in the Luftwaffe. The order affected all aircraft of the Allied Expeditionary Air Force, the Air Defence of Great Britain, gliders, and support aircraft such as Coastal Command air-sea rescue aircraft whose duties might entail their overflying Allied anti-aircraft defenses. To stop aircraft being compromised when based at forward bases in France, D-Day stripes were ordered removed a month after from the upper surfaces of airplanes, and completely removed by the end of 1944

The Combat Identification Panel (CIP), also known as a Coalition Identification Panel, is a device mounted on military ground vehicles to distinguish them from the enemy during battle.

History

Combat Identification Panels were developed after the Persian Gulf War to reduce friendly fire incidents among allied ground forces. These panels are designed so as to produce a distinct and easily identifiable infrared signature when seen through thermal imaging systems. Originally created as a hasty expediency, the use of low-thermal-emissivity tape and physical separation from the body of the vehicle meant that the panel would appear as a contrasting dark (i.e. cooler) area through thermal viewers.

CIPs first saw widespread use in the Iraq War where nearly all coalition vehicles were equipped with these devices, usually mounted on the sides and rear of the body and/or turret. Some were even mounted on the driver and front passenger doors of Humvees with a special cutout so the door handle could still be accessed through the panel, as well as on the hood between the windshield and the top grille.

Seems like the lessons from previous wars are being learned over again

[CINDERS]

As always Mark excellent information supplied by yourself to the forumer's here