D-Day Airborne Cricket or clicker 101st Airborne Normandy WW2:
WW2 Cricket Signalling Toy - D-Day 1944
You may ask why are we selling this toy cricket when we only deal in Helmets & Hats? Simple reason, there is photographic evidence of them being taped to the M2 Airborne Helmet during the Normandy invasion! What better way to finish of your Airborne helmet than by taping one of our clickers to the side.
(English Made) WW2 101st Airborne Cricket: For the first time since 1944 the 'Acme' cricket is available again. This little device which was carried by the paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division into France on D-Day June 6th 1944 was originally known as the 'No.470 clicker' by manufacturers J Hudson and Co Ltd of Birmingham England but quickly came to be called the 'cricket' by the airborne paratroopers. After more than two years of hard work the cricket is being made once more. Not only that, they are being made by the original company, in the original factory, on the original machines and using the original dies.
These crickets are in fact original, they have just been made 70+ years after the first batch! They are made of brass and steel just as in the originals!
Do not confuse this cricket with others you may have seen for sale, this is the real thing. Your D-Day paratrooper rig will not be complete without a REAL 'Acme' cricket to tape to your helmet strap or string around your neck. This item would also make the ideal gift for the Airborne aficionado in your life.
Yes, you can get replica crickets much cheaper, usually marked with 'U.S.' which not only is totally incorrect as this was a English made device, but the shape and make up is wrong. You are buying the genuine item but made 70+ years after the first batches were made and a lot of work and effort has gone into producing this piece of Airborne history!
If you are one of the visitors to Littlecote House England on the Stephen Ambrose 'Band of Brothers' tour, yes, this is the cricket you saw there and you can now own it! If you watch the film 'The Longest Day', you will see this item used and demonstrated several times!
(English Made) WW2 101st Airborne Cricket: For the first time since 1944 the 'Acme' cricket is available again. This little device which was carried by the paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division into France on D-Day June 6th 1944 was originally known as the 'No.470 clicker' by manufacturers J Hudson and Co Ltd of Birmingham England but quickly came to be called the 'cricket' by the airborne paratroopers. After more than two years of hard work the cricket is being made once more. Not only that, they are being made by the original company, in the original factory, on the original machines and using the original dies.
These crickets are in fact original, they have just been made 70+ years after the first batch! They are made of brass and steel just as in the originals!
Do not confuse this cricket with others you may have seen for sale, this is the real thing. Your D-Day paratrooper rig will not be complete without a REAL 'Acme' cricket to tape to your helmet strap or string around your neck. This item would also make the ideal gift for the Airborne aficionado in your life.
Yes, you can get replica crickets much cheaper, usually marked with 'U.S.' which not only is totally incorrect as this was a English made device, but the shape and make up is wrong. You are buying the genuine item but made 70+ years after the first batches were made and a lot of work and effort has gone into producing this piece of Airborne history!
If you are one of the visitors to Littlecote House England on the Stephen Ambrose 'Band of Brothers' tour, yes, this is the cricket you saw there and you can now own it! If you watch the film 'The Longest Day', you will see this item used and demonstrated several times!
Aged Brass Crickets: If you want the cricket to look 70+ years old then we do this too. Each one is individually aged and no two will be alike. The hole is irregular as if punched by a bayonet, knife or nail; the string is old and worn, the box has weep marks from the staples and is in battered condition and the cricket has rust marks and tarnish. The clicker still clicks!
A great clacker for display purposes or mounting on a relic M2 paratrooper helmet. Comes with its aged presentation box.
A great clacker for display purposes or mounting on a relic M2 paratrooper helmet. Comes with its aged presentation box.
Nickel (chrome) Plated Brass Crickets: When the 101st Airborne Division required their crickets for the Normandy jump they placed an order with the English Company, J. Hudson and Co. (operating under the name of "Acme") for 10,000 clickers. The Acme company had approximately 3000 clickers in stock which were nickel plated but to fulfil the order they also made them out of brass. When they ran out of brass, they made them out of biscuit tin metal from the Cadbury's chocolate factory which was close to Hudson and Co.
There are no figures for how many brass and tin crickets were made, but judging from 'found' original examples volumes there were probably 6000 Brass and 1000 tin. So the nickel clackers are much rarer than the brass versions. From known examples the chrome plated versions look almost as new now than they did 70+ years ago!
There are no figures for how many brass and tin crickets were made, but judging from 'found' original examples volumes there were probably 6000 Brass and 1000 tin. So the nickel clackers are much rarer than the brass versions. From known examples the chrome plated versions look almost as new now than they did 70+ years ago!
Aged Nickel (chrome) Plated Brass Crickets: These nickle (chrome), plated crickets are in aged condition. The nickle crickets actually stood up to wear very well and some originals look almost brand new. Our aged crickets are made to look as if they have been found on the battlefield several years after the normandy invasion. No two nickel clackers are alike! Comes with free aged presentation box and yes it still makes the clacking sound!
Airborne Clickers:
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