Museum volunteer (and BBC local reporter) Louise Hubball reports on the work of zoologist and artist Hugh Cott which became invaluable during the Second World War, particularly during the desert campaign.  You can watch the report here (it begins about 20 minutes into the programme):

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b064ltdw/look-east-west-10082015

Hugh Bamford Cott, (6 July 1900 – 18 April 1987), was a British zoologist, an authority on both natural and military camouflage, and a scientific illustrator and photographer. Many of his field studies took place in Africa, where he was especially interested in the Nile crocodile, the evolution of pattern and colour in animals. During the Second World War, Cott worked as a camouflage expert for the British Army and helped to influence War Office policy on camouflage. His book Adaptive Coloration in Animals (1940), popular among serving soldiers, was the major textbook on camouflage in zoology of the twentieth century. After the war, he became a Fellow of Selwyn College, Cambridge. As a Fellow of the Zoological Society of London, he undertook expeditions to Africa and the Amazon to collect specimens, mainly reptiles and amphibians. (taken from Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_B._Cott