question RAF WW2 Jeep colour

[Rick W]

What was the colour code for an RAF Jeep WW2? Also what colour would the canvas have been?

[Adrian Barrell]

Olive drab.

[Rick W]

Very concise answer Mr Barrell!

[Meteor mark 4B]

Hmmm....

[Meteor mark 4B]

Might not be genuine of course, but I understood it was.

[Rick W]

Case in point Mark. I have seen pics of jeeps in blue, only seen them at shows, not seen them "in service" pics.

[No Signals]

I'll stand being shot down (sorry:)) on this one but would have thought that there would not have been any jeeps in RAF service in the earlier years of the war i.e. not yet gone in to acquiring stuff from the Yanks via lease /lend whatever. On that basis none of them would have arrived during the wartime spill over 'pre-war' colour period. i'm of the understanding that after the BoB vehicles were turned to green/OD asap due to the fact they stuck out on the airfields. Unless of course there is evidence to suggest jeeps were bought for RAF service earlier than I am presuming? And that is a presumption on my part not a statement of fact. New vehicles, post BoB(ish) were supplied in OD. Of course jeeps, long with other vehicles, could have acquired early post war a coat of blue/grey and it may be that this has survived on the one in the pic. Although immediate post war vehicles would probably have had black bumpers and mudguards. Might be worth a rub down on some bits just to see what is underneath? All sorts of interesting layers and markings have turned up on my MW.

[Rick W]

A valid point. They would have all come over Olive Drab. Not specifically talking about BoB. But post 42. It would make sense to keep the jeeps in OD as you have said.

[mcspool]

The subject of RAF vehicle colours has been adressed on this forum and Maple Leaf Up before. Broadly speaking, it boils down to the fact that during WW2 RAF vehicles followed Army camouflage schemes. Certainly new Lend-Lease vehicles like jeeps were used in the colour they were supplied in: any colour you like as long as it is Olive Drab as Henry Ford would have put it.

 

Blue jeeps are surely interesting to see, post-war some of them could have been repainted, but I have yet to see a wartime or early post-war picture of one painted in RAF colours.

 

HTH,

Hanno

[Smithy]

Saw this one at Wartime in the Vale. It had just undergone a restoration to get it into this condition, although it wasn't orginally an RAF Jeep.

[unionjack]

Surely A post-war repaint would have been gloss RAF blue though wouldn't it?

 

Also, concerning all the references to Olive Drab, if they were 'second hand' Jeeps from US forces they may have been left in OD, but newly painted British Jeeps would surely have been Khaki Drab. Not the same shade at all.

[mcspool]

Surely A post-war repaint would have been gloss RAF blue though wouldn't it?

 

Most likely, yes.

 

Also, concerning all the references to Olive Drab, if they were 'second hand' Jeeps from US forces they may have been left in OD, but newly painted British Jeeps would surely have been Khaki Drab. Not the same shade at all.

 

Do you mean newly repainted jeeps? Possibly, but repainting a base colour was not normally done until a vehicle was rebuilt. Jeeps delivered new from the factory were supplied only in Olive Drab.

[No Signals]

...concerning all the references to Olive Drab, if they were 'second hand' Jeeps from US forces they may have been left in OD, but newly painted British Jeeps would surely have been Khaki Drab. Not the same shade at all.

 

Because of the proliferation of vehicles in OD arriving under lease/lend that colour became an adopted shade for army and RAf vehicles from late '44 onwards, (British Standard War Emergency Camouflage colour). One reference refers to the BSI colour sample as being 'more drab than olive'. As has been refered to previously there are some good threads on RAF colours elsewhere on the forum, and on some others. I've not come across any references to (lease/lend supplied) whole vehicle base colours being repainted to conform with then current British camouflage practises; so my guess is that to save time and money they weren't, but if this is an incorrect assumption I'd be happy to hear the references.

[unionjack]

Because of the proliferation of vehicles in OD arriving under lease/lend that colour became an adopted shade for army and RAf vehicles from late '44 onwards, (British Standard War Emergency Camouflage colour). One reference refers to the BSI colour sample as being 'more drab than olive'.

 

Hmm. Of course I can see that it would be sensible to just leave the vehicle in the perfectly useable shade it came in, but there would be no British Standard for that shade. No-one over here would therefore be making it, and there would be no way of officially adopting it.

Are you saying therefore that Khaki Drab, our later war colour, was only for British made vehicles?

[Adrian Barrell]

There is no such thing as khaki drab! The British olive drab, SCC15 was adopted in early 1944. It was similar to US OD in that it was green but was not the same. Vehicles in whatever colour they were in were not to be repainted unless absolutely necessary.

[unionjack]

Hmm. Okay, we obviously agree that the British shade differs to the American.

Are you sure ours was called Olive Drab?

Many people, myself included are/were of the opinion that our colour was called Khaki Drab.

[mcspool]

Hmm. Okay, we obviously agree that the British shade differs to the American.

Are you sure ours was called Olive Drab?

Many people, myself included are/were of the opinion that our colour was called Khaki Drab.

 

Yes - here are some reading suggestions on the subject:

http://www.matadormodels.co.uk/tank_museum/5_camo_1.htm

http://www.mafva.net/other%20pages/Starmer%20camo.htm

 

Especially Mike Starmer's publications are worth every single penny!

[Gordon_M]

I'll add my vote to the Olive Drab pile.

 

They were supplied in OD, and no-one would have wasted time, energy, and paint repainting them before they needed it.

 

I'd guess that towards the end of the war they were still OD, with some RAF markings and maybe the odd roundel. The one exception might be the 'follow-me' vehicles which seem to be OD+ white for the British and OD+yellow for the US.

 

Gordon

[Richard Farrant]

Especially Mike Starmer's publications are worth every single penny!

 

 

I will second that, having bought a copy of Mike's book, covering 1936-45 in UK and NW Europe. It includes paint chips. A lot of regulations quoted as well, so it is not heresay.

 

And SCC15 is known as Olive Drab.........now in the British Standard colour chart as 298 Olive Drab.