Vol. VIII No. 1

Hansel & Gretel and the Cyclops: Early Infrared Weapon Sights in the Dutch Army, 1946–1951

Mathieu Willemsen

Abstract

Conventional wisdom in the Netherlands holds that the Dutch military began developing night vision accessories for firearms in 1949. However, a discovery of technical drawings in the Dutch Nationaal Militair Museum (NMM) collection has recently revealed that a series of experiments were conducted with infrared viewers for firearms earlier in the 1940s. This discovery, as well as the Museum’s recent acquisition of a Dutch carbine fitted with a first-generation infrared telescopic sight, has spurred this author’s investigation into the history of infrared rifle sight development in the Netherlands. With evocative code names like ‘Hansel & Gretel’ and ‘Cyclops’, Dutch military development of infrared weapon sights included some novel approaches. A wealth of new material, recently rediscovered in Dutch archives, underpins the findings presented herein.

Issue: Vol. VIII No. 1
Published: 31 July 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52357/armax67608
Peer-reviewed?: Yes

Keywords: Dutch Army, infrared sights, night vision devices, Netherlands

Bibliographic Information

Mathieu Willemsen, ‘Hansel & Gretel and the Cyclops: Early Infrared Weapon Sights in the Dutch Army, 1946–1951’, Armax: The Journal of Contemporary Arms, Vol. VIII № 1 (2022), pp. 59–74, <https://doi.org/10.52357/armax67608>.

About the Author

Mathieu Willemsen is the Curator of the Nationaal Militair Museum (National Military Museum) of the Netherlands. He studied Museology and Art History, and went on to work in the museum sector. In 2004, Mr. Willemsen helped arrange the exhibition ‘Kalashnikov: Weapons without Frontiers’ at the Dutch Army Museum. He is a former Secretary of the International Committee for Museums and Collections of Arms and Military History (ICOAM). Mr. Willemsen has written numerous articles on arms and munitions for a variety of international journals and magazines, and is the author of the award-winning book Experiment and Trial: Prototypes and Test Models of International Military Small Arms of the 19th and Early 20th Century (Vienna: Verlag Militaria, 2012). He is currently conducting research into the development of early Dutch military flintlock muskets.