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Early Camouflage |
In England, smaller irregular units of gamekeepers in the 17th century were the first to adopt drab colours while using rifled firearms, following examples from the continent. A later example of a camouflaged sniper unit would be the 95th Rifle Regiment, which was created during the Napoleonic Wars to strengthen the British skirmish line. As they carried more accurate rifles and engaged at a longer range, they were equipped with a rifle green jacket, in stark contrast to the Line regiments' scarlet tunics and following the jaeger tradition of rifle troops in Europe. Major armies retained their colour until convinced otherwise. The British in India were forced by casualties to dye their white summer tunics to neutral tones, initially a muddy tan called khaki (from the Hindi-Urdu word for "dusty"). This was only a temporary measure. It became standard in Indian service in the 1880s, but it was not until the Second Boer War that, in 1902, the uniforms of the entire British army were standardised on this dun tone for battledress.
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