THERE’S no disguising the latest plaque in Leamington.
A special interest plaque has been put up at the Regent Hotel in recognition of the Camoufleurs during World War Two.
It was unveiled by the town’s mayor Coun Ruggy Singh on Wednesday (September 24) in Livery Street.
The Regent Hotel became the headquarters of the Civil Defence Camouflage Establishment (CDCE), and its successor the Camouflage Directorate, during World War Two after relocating from London to Leamington in October 1939 to avoid the anticipated German air raids on the capital city.
Its task was to create camouflage to help protect strategically important civilian installations, like factories, power stations and airfields, against aerial attack. The head of the CDCE was Captain Lancelot Glasson, who in 1939 began to recruit a team of specialist staff drawn from the register of artists eligible for special wartime work, supported by senior and junior technical assistants, many with art or design training.
Their skills in the visual and creative arts were thought particularly suited to the challenges of developing schemes for camouflage.
