Editing Operation Bertram (section)

=== "Cannibals" for field guns{{Anchor|Cannibal}} ===

[[File:The British Army in the United Kingdom 1939-45 H20971.jpg|thumb|left|The distinctive shape of a "[[Morris C8|Quad]]" tractor pulling a limber and 25 pounder gun|alt=Photograph of a complete 25 pounder gun, limber and 'Quad' tractor crossing a bridge (in the British Isles)]]

[[File:Brian Robb's sketch of 'Cannibal' disguise of 25-pounder gun, limber, quad as trucks.jpg|thumb|Sketch by artist and camouflage officer [[Brian Robb]] of the 'Cannibal' method of disguising guns|alt=Sketch by Eighth Army camoufleur Brian Robb of the 'Cannibal' method of disguising gun, limber and 'Quad' as 2 trucks]]

[[Field gun]]s and their [[Limbers and caissons|limbers]] were disguised as British "[[Bedford truck|3-tonner]]" trucks, under the direction of Tony Ayrton and Brian Robb. They arranged for the long towing pole of the limber to overlap the trail of the gun and then put up a dummy truck canopy over both. The real wheels of both the gun and the limber added to the realism of the dummy truck, as they remained visible under the canopy, exactly where the truck's wheels ought to be. The technique was named "Cannibal" because the gun and limber were "[[cannibalism|eaten up]]" by the canopy.<ref name=Barkas201>{{harvnb|Barkas|Barkas|1952|p=200–201}}</ref>

The extremely distinctive [[Morris C8|Morris C8 four wheel drive tractors]], known as "Quads" that pulled the [[Ordnance QF 25 pounder|25 pounder guns]] and their limbers also had to be disguised, as their presence directly advertised the presence of artillery. They were more simply camouflaged, again as trucks with real wheels, by draping a net over four poles tied to the sides of the vehicle and braced with guy ropes.<ref name=Barkas201/>

A total of 360 Cannibals were deployed in Bertram.<ref name=Forbes165/> The rear artillery concentration area and the forward artillery barrage area near [[El Alamein]] station were named Cannibal I and Cannibal II, respectively, after the camouflage technique. In Barkas's own words<ref name=Barkas201/>

{{quote|the great concentration of 25-pounders... seems to have been quite undetectable right up to the instant when its disguise was thrown off and the gunners opened fire.|Geoffrey Barkas<ref name=Barkas201/>}}