In 1928, Proud left school at age 15 and started work at the Elstree film studios on Alfred Hitchcock films including Murder! (1930) and Rich and Strange.[2] In 1932 he joined Gaumont British as assistant designer to Alfred Junge. The British Film Institute's Raymond Durgnat described him as an "ace production designer".[3]
In 1935 he moved to Gainsborough Pictures,[4] and in 1936 he became an art director at Warner Bros., where he worked on Michael Powell's film Something Always Happens.[1][2]
Wartime camouflage
The dummy 'Net Gun Pit' deceived enemy tactical reconnaissance in the Western Desert campaign of 1941–1942
Proud worked as a camouflage officer under Geoffrey Barkas in the Western Desert in the Second World War, and was responsible for effective camouflage and deception in the Siege of Tobruk.[5][6] With Steven Sykes, he created the dummy port at Ras al Hilal to divert enemy attention from the Eighth Army's vital supply ports.[7] He was a creative camoufleur, inventing the "Net Gun Pit", a quickly-erected structure of netting and canvas, that from the air closely resembled an anti-aircraft gun in a sandbagged pit.[2][8]
^ abc"Peter Proud". Filmography. British Film Institute. Archived from the original on July 11, 2012. Retrieved November 13, 2012.
^ abcdGrant, Alistair (2012). "The Elmbridge Hundred". Peter Proud. Elmbridge Museum. Archived from the original on 20 December 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
^Durgnat, Ray (31 July 1999). "The Business of Fear". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 14 November 2012. Retrieved 14 November 2012.
