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Signal snappers

Alternate name(s)

Cricket
Clacker
Clicker

Maker J. Hudson & Company

Date1935-1945 ca.

Place MadeBirmingham, England, Europe

ModelAcme 470

Serial No.none

SignedStamped: THE ACME / MADE IN / ENGLAND
Markingsnone
DescriptionThis WWII D-Day ‘cricket’ clicker or, ‘signal snapper,’ was introduced as military signaling devices by General Maxwell D. Taylor to be used by the 101st Airborne Division during D-Day. The ‘Cricket’ was used as a means of identifying fellow soldiers during the darkness or in situations when the enemy was close by. They were also used as a way of giving orders with different numbers of clicks being given for different meanings.

The ‘Cricket’ was designed and made in Birmingham by J. Hudson & Co. They were originally called No. 470 Clicker, but the Airborne renamed them Crickets because of their close resemblance to the sound of the insect. They were given to U.S. paratroopers before their jump into Normandy, France, for the Allied invasion on June 6, 1944. The little device gave the US Airborne soldiers a way to communicate with each other in the predawn darkness, after they parachuted down and were scrambling to meet up with their troops, ideally undetected by the enemy. The cricket saved many lives. But their use was limited to nighttime (that is, real-cricket chirping time) and that particular day. Enemy troops would quickly catch on to the simple code. For that reason, many crickets were discarded early and are relatively rare. Authentic WWII crickets like this ACME nickel-plated brass one (production between 1935 and 1945), are now highly sought after by collectors.

Made of two pieces of nickel-plated brass, one of which is a flat tongue which slides into a groove in the other piece. The tongue is flxible, and the free end may be squeezed downward, producing a loud clicking or cricket-like sound.

DimensionsOverall length: 51 mm (2 in)
Widest point: 25 mm (1 in)
ProvenanceArne B. Larson Collection, Vermillion, South Dakota, 1979.

Credit LineArne B. Larson Collection, 1979

Object number05060

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