SPOFF

JUMAT, 27 SEPTEMBER 2013
SPOOF


The soldiers had just moved to the desert, and as they had never been in such a place before, they had a lot to learn.

As there were no trees or buildings in the desert, it was, of course, very hard to hide their trucks from enemy planes. The soldiers were therefore given training in camouflage, which means ways of covering something so that the enemy cannot see where it is. They were shown how to paint their trucks in irregular patterns with pale green, yellow, and brown paints, and then to cover them with nets to which they had tied small pieces of cloth.

The driver who had the biggest truck went to a lot of trouble to camouflage it. He spent several hours painting it, preparing a net and searching for some heavy with which to hold the net down. When it was all finished, he looked proudly at his work and then went off to have his lunch.

But when he came back to the truck after he had had his meal, he was surprised and worried to see that his camouflage work was completely spoilt by the truck’s shadow, which was growing longer and longer as the afternoon advanced. He stood looking at it, not knowing what to do about it.

Soon an officer arrived, and he too saw the shadow, of course.
‘Well,’ he shouted to the poor driver, ‘what are you going to do about it ? If an enemy plane comes over, the pilot will at once know that there is a truck there.’

‘I know, sir,’ answered the soldier.
‘Well, don’t just stand there doing nothing !’ said the officer. ‘What shall I do, sir ?’ asked the poor driver.
‘Get your spade and throw some sand over the shadow, of course !’ answered the officer.