CAMOUFLAGED FIST

Camouflaged Fist delivers a comprehensive overview of the innovative, and until now previously un-researched, camouflage smocks worn by the infantrymen of the 6th Armoured Division. Following meticulous archival research of previously un-accessed war diaries the narrative uses a fully evidenced based approach supplemented by accounts from those who wore them and recently digitised photographs and documents to set out the who, what, why, where and when of their use. 

In telling the story, Camouflage Fist also provides insight into the wider use of uniform by infantrymen in Italy and previously unpublished material concerning the 6th Armoured Division. It will be of interest and assistance to historians, military collectors, reenactors and scale modellers alike.

‘Gareth Scanlon has put together a detailed study of the 6th Armoured Division. He presents a comprehensive analysis of the uniforms, the innovative use of camouflage clothing and the adaptation of the Guards and Rifle regiments of the Division to the climate, terrain and vegetation of central Italy during the summer of 1944. The result of many years of detailed research and painstaking acquisition of the uniforms and other accoutrements worn by the guardsmen and riflemen Camouflaged Fist provides a deep analysis of their origins, sources and modifications. This book makes a significant contribution to our knowledge of the war in Italy from a barely tapped but fruitful direction for what is often portrayed as a dull, unimaginative and colourless campaign.’ Dr Nigel Warwick, Corps Historian Royal Air Force Regiment