Page 64 - American Rifleman (February 2020)

U. S. T3 CARBINE

before the company was sold to another rm in 1947. It is to the end of the war. Even though more than 1,900 T3
reported that all 1,700 of the wartime infrared scopes were carbines and some 1,700 infrared sights were made during
slated to be sent to either Okinawa or the Philippines. the war, only about 200 made it overseas and saw active
Garstang reported “[U]ntil mid-1946, the performance combat use for a few months in the later Paci c campaigns.
of the Sniperscope and Snooperscope, known to the GIs Nevertheless, they in icted many more enemy casualties
as Milly and Molly, was little known. However, they were than would be expected given the numbers employed.
used in the invasion of Okinawa, on Luzon and in the The infrared-capable T3 carbines were undoubtedly
nal cleanup of the Philippines. They effectively stopped a revelation to the American troops who had, rightly,
all (night) in ltration and eliminated one of the worst feared Japanese night in ltration tactics since the early
features of the Paci c warfare … .” Guadalcanal campaign. It is unfortunate the infrared sights
Nighttime in ltration by the Japanese had been a cause weren’t available in 1942, but advances in technology can-
of much concern for American troops throughout the war, not always be rushed.
and the infrared-sight-equipped T3 carbine was tailor-made The Germans, too, developed a number of infrared
to counter such tactics. Sniper historian and author Peter night-vision instruments for vehicle, aircraft and re-
Senich elaborated on the successful combat use of the control applications. Well before the end of the war, the
infrared sights in World War II: “A night-vision capacity Germans started development of an infrared night-vision
was to prove particularly effective in combating Japanese sight for their Maschinenpistole 43 (MP43) assault ri e,
in ltration tactics conducted during periods of darkness which was given the marvelous nickname Vampir (vam-
in the Paci c. It was reported during the rst seven days pire). The Wehrmacht had anticipated the use of infrared
of action of the Okinawa Campaign that the Sniperscope night-vision small arms sights by the Allies and produced
(infrared) accounted for approximately 30 percent of the about 10,000 hand-held devices that could detect infrared
total Japanese casualties in icted by small arms re. light sources. However, combat use of infrared night-vision
Combat reports cite approaching groups of Japanese being sights for rearms by the Germans was virtually nil and did
thoroughly decimated while attempting to pick their way not create any signi cant problems for the Allied forces.
through American lines. From that point forward, night Following the conclusion of World War II, the U.S. mili-
activity of the Imperial Japanese solider was to be in - tary continued development of improved infrared night-
nitely more hazardous. Although several thousand infrared vision sights. Very few genuine T3 carbines have survived,
units were manufactured during World War II, only about as virtually all were destroyed (“demillled”) by torch-
200 were actually employed in the South Paci c. The cutting after being withdrawn from service after the war.
Japanese military, cognizant of the infrared principles and In lieu of the specially made T3 carbine, a separate mounting
techniques, was, in fact, developing units for small-arms bar for the infrared sights that could be attached to standard
use late in the war. However, operational devices were not M1 or M2 carbines was developed. The mounting bar was
known to be employed in actual combat.” installed by attaching the rear portion into the carbine’s
Combat use of the infrared-sighted T3 carbine and dovetail sight base (after removing the rear sight) and
its effectiveness during the Okinawa campaign was also clamping the front to the barrel. The only modi cation
discussed in Robert Rush’s book GI: The U.S. Infantryman required to the standard carbine was an oval hole milled
In World War II, “There was a lot of talk about a new into the handguard to accommodate the front barrel clamp.
weapon some of the members of the Intelligence and The light source was mounted on top of the scope as eld
Reconnaissance Platoon were carrying. It looked to many reports from World War II indicated that the infrared lamp
like one of Buck Rogers’ ray guns, with a large dish mounted on the bottom of the stock could sometimes be
mounted beneath a … carbine and a large ashlight on top obscured by foliage. After the war, the M1 and M2 infrared
with a power cable leading to a metal box carried in a back- sights still in inventory were modi ed to relocate the light
pack. They called it a ‘sniperscope’ for good reason, and the source above the scope.
Army had developed it for the sole purpose of thwarting The M2 carbine retro tted with the modi ed M1 or M2
Japanese in ltration. Using this weapon, a soldier could infrared night-vision sights with the attached separate
see in the dark to a range of about 70 yds. (64 m), with mounting bar was standardized as the “Carbine, Caliber
objects appearing in the scope in various shades of green. .30, M3.” This change in nomenclature has resulted in
About 30 percent of the total Japanese casualties in icted some misunderstanding as the World War II T3 carbine is
through ri e re during the rst weeks of the Okinawa sometimes confused with the post-war M3 carbine. The
operation were from the sniperscope … . Although they two are differentiated by the fact the T3 had a special
were heavy and bulky, it was nice to sit in a concealed receiver with integral mounts and was semi-automatic
position and watch the green images of Japanese soldiers only, while the M3 was a M2 carbine (either a purpose-
creep forward. A quick blast … and another enemy soldier made M2 or a M1 converted by means of a T18-type kit)
lay dead. After a few nights, they discovered rain and night with the mounting bar added and equipped with an
illumination tended to cut down the scope’s ef ciency.” infrared night-vision sight.
Apparently, none of the T3 carbines and their infra- In the very early 1950s, an improved infrared night-
red scopes were deployed to the European Theater prior vision sight, the “M3,” was adopted and of cially
62 FEBRUARY 2020 AMERICAN RIFLEMAN