Looking for some help

Ive seen photo's of Fireflys with last third or so of the main gun painted in a manner to disguise the fact that the tank was a Firefly, usually the upper half of the barrel is sky blue or white , the lower half a dark green.
I know the reason for this was that Germans gunners would prioritise
"taking out " a Firefly first if possible.

BUT does anyone know when crews started applying this to the gun tubes was it pre D-Day or a field modification introduced later in the Normandy campaign ??

Thanks in advance for any help


Ian

Actually, you have it backwards. The LOWER half of the muzzle end of the gun was painted white, and the upper was either left in green or painted some other darker color. That's called countershading. Not sure if you just misstyped there or what.

As for when, most of my sources don't show this scheme until quite late in the war, often 1945. For example, I've yet to find a photo of a Guards Armored Firefly with countershaded barrel during Market Garden (Sept 44), but do have lots of photos of IC fireflies of the coldstream guards from Feb-April 45 with the countershading.

If planning a Normandy scene, I'd definitely do without it. Most I've seen from Normandy had camo nets, chicken wire, etc., to try to disguise them.

HTH.
Rob

The answer might be here
http://web.inter.nl.net/users/spoelstra/g104/firefly-cam.htm

Thanks for the swift reply guys

I admit , I was tempted to add this type of cammo to the main gun on my Firefly but the one I have built looks like it just rolled off an LST (embarkation markings , tow bars and stowage stacked on the front glacis )

Oh well


Ian