Charles E. Burchfield (1893-1967)

Army 1918 – A
Camouflage

It was impossible for me to do straight camouflage. I had to have a poetic idea back of my designs. Once it was winds & rocks in Pine Hollow.  Eventually complaints came in that my designs were too complicated for the men to carry out on the guns and I had to simplify them. 

Fortunately for me Lt. Yarrow was more interested in pure painting than he was in camouflage, and took a keen interest in my sketches which I brought in. This made it easy for me to digress.

The episode of painting the mechanism of the guns.  (How I hated to make the men clean them)

I jealous of Sgt. Reed.

All suspicious of my success. The original group, Gaven, Duff, Abel, “Wilt”, Reed, Thiele, etc.

Kern jealous of me – the sign painter Lt. dislike of me, as well at(sic) the scene painter Lt. Rose. Lt. ? – None of them believed in me but Yarrow.  I felt the sign painter was always trying to give me some dirty work to do. He never succeeded. I felt secure with Yarrow back of me.