tools and equipment ???

Bakelite is a plastic-type material and could be dyed or painted.  Mostly one sees it in black.  The handles of wire cutters were sometimes made of a pressed fiber material -- ended up being brownish.

You say: "In africa and at kursk tools were left on and covered with the camo overspray. "  as if it were an official policy in those theaters.  It wasn't.  I bet you can find it any where and any theater.  And I'm sure you'll find tools on vehicles that didn't have overspray as well.  You cant generalize in this instance.

Bakelite isn’t “plastic-like”, it is the original plastic from 1907. Polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride [try saying that three times fast!] can be cast, laminated, inlaid, carved, and tinted almost any color of the rainbow, “plastic” yet oddly brittle, but most Bakelite I recall from the 40s was a rich, dark brown. [I vas dere, Sharlie.] Most of those “black” Bakelite handles were very, very dark chocolate color.