I dont suspect any squaddie to know the correct colour code for paint. During WW2 paint was paint, if it was dark green, they called it dark green, if it was brown and it look like it came from a baby's bottom it would be s***brown by the squaddies at the stores. In stores they had paint for different things, and would most probably call the paint related to what it was for, certainly not by the code. In emergencies they had what they had and was made do, if it was Home Guard they had what they could afford or get their hands on. If it look near and done the job. The BS381C code changed a lot over the years, named colours changed, colours were omitted and new ones added. I used Nato green as an example of the coding and was not used during WW2. As for paint manufactures and paint shops today who call themselves experts and professional i spent a year on the phone researching for wrinkle finish paint asking about the paint and paints in general. 90% hadn't a clue about paint, they didn't know much if not hardly anything about BS381C or other codes come to that, so i can see why you got a crap deal, a lot of business amateurs out there, you have to do your home work to get what you want.