15 Facts About Geoffrey Barkas

Geoffrey Barkas was born in 1896 in Richmond, Surrey where his father was a librarian, to parents from Jersey families.

Between the wars, Geoffrey Barkas worked on silent films and then feature films, starting as a writer and producer, and then directing his own films such as The Manitou Trail and The Lumberjack and The Third Gun, the latter being a three-reel short filmed in the Phonofilm sound-on-film process.

Geoffrey Barkas co-directed with Michael Barringer, Anthony Asquith, Berthold Viertel and Milton Rosmer, he edited Red Ensign directed by Michael Powell.

Geoffrey Barkas wrote an account in 1934 of the production of Barkas' film Palaver.

Geoffrey Barkas began in Northern Ireland in 1940, teaching army drivers how to camouflage their vehicles.

Geoffrey Barkas found that they regarded their camouflage nets as "cloak[s] of invisibility", and in consequence would park trucks out in the open, covered by nets not "garnished" with the provided strips of canvas or hessian.

Geoffrey Barkas's response was to print a training pamphlet, designed to be entertaining as well as instructive.

Geoffrey Barkas would assemble about 60 trucks, coaches and smaller vehicles and discuss with the non-commissioned officers how to hide these from the air.

Geoffrey Barkas developed a simple illustration of this point, by dropping a collar stud on a carpet.

Geoffrey Barkas arranged a flight to observe the desert from the air, noting patterns that he named as "Wadi", "Polka Dot" and so on that he hoped to use for camouflage.

Geoffrey Barkas was surprised to have this at once recognised as an "operational requirement" by the British Army's Middle East Command, that is, as an essential item for every army unit.

Geoffrey Barkas was promoted to the new position of "Director of Camouflage", with the rank of lieutenant-colonel.

Geoffrey Barkas further built up his unit's ability in deception by getting one of his best officers, the artist Steven Sykes to build a convincing dummy railway at Misheifa to divert enemy attention from the real railhead at Capuzzo bringing materiel for Operation Crusader.

Geoffrey Barkas was made an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.

Geoffrey Barkas won an Oscar in 1936 for his direction of Wings Over Everest.