 As in the First World War , artists were pressed into service ; for example , the surrealist painter Roland Penrose became a lecturer at the newly founded Camouflage Development and Training Centre at Farnham Castle , writing the practical Home Guard Manual of Camouflage . The film @-@ maker Geoffrey Barkas ran the Middle East Command Camouflage Directorate during the 1941 – 1942 war in the Western Desert , including the successful deception of Operation Bertram . Hugh Cott was chief instructor ; the artist camouflage officers , who called themselves camoufleurs , included Steven Sykes and Tony Ayrton . In Australia , artists were also prominent in the Sydney Camouflage Group , formed under the chairmanship of Professor William John Dakin , a zoologist from Sydney University . Max Dupain , Sydney Ure Smith and William Dobell were among the members of the group , which worked at Bankstown Airport , RAAF Base Richmond and Garden Island Dockyard . 
