Where can I find a WW2 cricket whistle that was used to notify friendlies of their location when concealed??

Question

I'm curious if anyone knows what I am speaking of, but I have search my local Army surplus stores and they know what I'm describing to them, yet no one has one.
From what I understand it is a small simple whistle that mimics the sound of a cricket. Can anyone help me out??

Answer 1

No, it wasn't a whistle, it was a metal shell, usually shaped like a bug that provided a rigid holder for a flat piece of spring steel held at one end in an arch. When the shell is cupped in the fingers, the thumb pushes to make it click (or "cricket") To the best of my knowledge, no special ones were made, they simply bought up the toys. In the movie, "The Longest Day" they are shown being used.
Well, I am wrong. When I went to look for images and found a lot of cheap toys but also found a site selling the originals.
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.ddaymuseum.org/store/images/clicket.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.ddaymuseum.org/store/product_info.php%3FcPath%3D9_27%26products_id%3D1105%26osCsid%3D1a57252913f123c9b747f0efa&h=200&w=300&sz=81&hl=en&start=5&tbnid=Iwwsh-OZrRxCDM:&tbnh=77&tbnw=116&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcricket%2Bclicker%2Btoy%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26rls%3DRNWE,RNWE:2004-15,RNWE:en%26sa%3DN
and
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.sptimes.com/2005/06/06/images/medium/A_1_1aclick_215916_0606.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.sptimes.com/2005/06/06/State/Through_the_dark__the.shtml&h=122&w=199&sz=9&hl=en&start=44&tbnid=xtTImOLXJl_JxM:&tbnh=64&tbnw=104&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcricket%2Bclicker%2Btoy%26start%3D40%26ndsp%3D20%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26rls%3DRNWE,RNWE:2004-15,RNWE:en%26sa%3DN

Haven't found a picture of the flat side.


http://www.copernicustoys.com/proddetail.php?prod=clic
http://cgi.ebay.com/ANTIQUE-TIN-CLICKER-CRICKET-US-METAL-TOY-REF-11_W0QQitemZ6029163498QQcmdZViewItem

Answer 2

The Reason Why You Are Having Such Difficulty, Is That The Item You Are Looking For Does Not Exist...At Least Not As You Describe It.

During The Normandy Invasion, Allied Troops Were Issued A "Clicker" Device Called A "Cricket" Buy The British...It Produces A clicking Sound When Pressed, And Was Actually A Cheap Child's Toy Found At Any 5 & 10 Of The Time.

A Whistle Would Not Be An Efficent Form Of Communication While Concealed...The British & American Troops Figured That The Clicker Would Approximate The Sound Of The local Frogs Mating calls, And Would Not Arrouse Suspicion By The German Troops.

There Was A Pre-Set ,Query And Response Series Of Clicks, And If One Did not Recieve The Proper Response, That Would Be The Enemy.

No Whistles Were Issued In That Manner, Although Some Of The Allied Troops Did Use Whistles During Field Operations, Although Rare.

Many Troops Discarded Their Clickers Once The Invasion Force Progressed Far Enough To Maintain A Hold Of The Beach, And Set Up A Command Post To Control The Incoming Waves Of Troops.

Go On E-Bay And Look For Toy Clickers Of That Era...That Will Get You In The Right Direction.

Answer 3

A cricket was not a whistle. It was a piece of tin that popped, making a sound like a cricket. Easily concealed. I played with one when I was a child.

Check on Ebay for cricket toy, leaving off the whistle. You'll probably find one. It was a dime store toy.

Answer 4

I know what you are talking about. Your best bet would be to keep checking e-bay. Also looking in the classified ad's of military/history magazines may help. You may want to put a small classified add in a military/history magazine but that may cost you more than the cricket whistle.

Answer 5

If you are thinking of the noise-maker that was issued to Allied paratroops, etc., for the D-Day drops and landings, it wasn't a whistle. It was a little steel clicker. When I was a kid (late 1940's) we all had these little toys.

The clicker was featured in the movie "The Longest Day" (a scene in which a paratrooper clicked his clicker once ... got the double-click response he was hoping for ... emerged from cover ... and was shot by the German whose rifle bolt action had produced the expected double-click sound).

It also is mentioned in the following quote from link 1 below: -
"He brought his D-Day clicker (the little toy noisemaker paratroopers took with them to identify each other in the darkness - one click, to be responded by two)."

If you go to link 2 below, you will find plenty of them for sale.