WEBVTT - How Did Clickers Save Lives on D-Day?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio, Hey brain Stuff.

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren Bogle bomb here. Shortly after midnight in the early

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<v Speaker 1>hours of June six, nearly twenty thousand, Allied paratroopers dropped

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<v Speaker 1>behind enemy lines to be the first soldiers on the

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<v Speaker 1>ground on D Day. Conditions were terrible. Thick cloud cover

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<v Speaker 1>and fog made it nearly impossible to spot their landing targets,

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<v Speaker 1>and the night sky was pierced with Nazi heavy anti

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<v Speaker 1>aircraft rounds and sniper fire. For those paratroopers who made

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<v Speaker 1>it to the ground, many were separated from their units

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<v Speaker 1>and unsure of their locations. Alone and enemy held territory,

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<v Speaker 1>they had to find their comrades and the fog blanketed

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<v Speaker 1>dark without tipping off the enemy. Good thing they had

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<v Speaker 1>their clickers hours earlier. When boarding the transport aircraft back

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<v Speaker 1>in England, members of the United States A hundred and

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<v Speaker 1>first Airborne Division were each handed a small metal box

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<v Speaker 1>that would serve as a low tech emergency communication device.

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<v Speaker 1>By pushing down on the lid of the box with

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<v Speaker 1>the thumb and releasing, it made a sharp clicking sound.

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<v Speaker 1>Their instructions were simple. If you're on the ground and

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<v Speaker 1>hear someone approaching click once, two clicks in reply means

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<v Speaker 1>a friend. No click could mean trouble. Twenty four hours

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<v Speaker 1>after landing, the paratroopers were told to ditch or hide

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<v Speaker 1>their clickers. Allied commanders were worried that the devices would

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<v Speaker 1>fall into Nazi hands and be used to trick Allied

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<v Speaker 1>soldiers into thinking that an approaching foe was friendly. The

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<v Speaker 1>D Day clickers were only in action for twenty four hours,

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<v Speaker 1>but who knows how many lives were saved by the

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<v Speaker 1>simple ingenuity. Inspired by the seventy anniversary of the D

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<v Speaker 1>Day invasion, this year, the British company that made those

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<v Speaker 1>original D Day clickers is on a search and rescue

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<v Speaker 1>mission of its own. Of the seven thousand clickers manufactured

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<v Speaker 1>by Acme Whistles during World War Two, less than a

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<v Speaker 1>dozen have been recovered. Now the company has launched a

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<v Speaker 1>worldwide campaign to find the lost D Day clickers and

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<v Speaker 1>learned the stories behind the brave troops who carried them.

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<v Speaker 1>We spoke with Ben McFarlane, the head of sales and

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<v Speaker 1>marketing at acmee Whistles, which still manufactures whistles in the

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<v Speaker 1>same Birmingham, England factory that took a direct hit from

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<v Speaker 1>Nazi bombers during the war. He says that the few

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<v Speaker 1>confirmed clickers in circulation are all held by museums and

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<v Speaker 1>private collectors. Acne Whistles itself doesn't possess even one of

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<v Speaker 1>the original clickers, although it sells an exact replica made

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<v Speaker 1>with the original machine presses. Just because there have been

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<v Speaker 1>so few recovered D Day clickers, it doesn't mean that

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<v Speaker 1>there are not more out there, McFarland said. It just

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<v Speaker 1>means that people don't know that they've got them. Acne

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<v Speaker 1>Whistles has been in business since eighteen seventy and is

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<v Speaker 1>responsible for a number of important whistle firsts. Its founder,

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<v Speaker 1>Joseph Hudson invented the first police whistle used by the

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<v Speaker 1>London Metropolitan Police. Prior to that, the bobby on the

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<v Speaker 1>beat used a wooden rattle. Hudson also invented the very

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<v Speaker 1>first sports whistle, the original Acme Thunderer. Before that, football

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<v Speaker 1>referees that's soccer to Americans in the UK waved a

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<v Speaker 1>white handkerchief to get the player's attention. Not quite as effective.

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<v Speaker 1>But back to the clickers. Since the clickers were exclusively

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<v Speaker 1>supplied to the US hundred and first airborne. McFarland expects

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<v Speaker 1>that many reside in America, either handed down as heirlooms

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<v Speaker 1>from generation to generation or in the hands of antiques

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<v Speaker 1>collectors who may not know the heroic providence of the

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<v Speaker 1>humble looking boxes. The day Day clicker, also known as

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<v Speaker 1>the acmee Cricket, was originally used by marching band leaders

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<v Speaker 1>to click out the tempo of piece of music. They're

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<v Speaker 1>made of brass and are half open rectangular boxes about

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<v Speaker 1>the size of the top joint of a thumb. By

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<v Speaker 1>half open, I mean that one short end and parts

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<v Speaker 1>of two walls are missing from the design. The remaining

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<v Speaker 1>short end is labeled with the ACME made in England.

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<v Speaker 1>If you think you're in possession of an original D

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<v Speaker 1>Day clicker, McFarland wants you to email him personally at

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<v Speaker 1>Ben dot McFarlane at Acme Whistles dot co dot UK.

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<v Speaker 1>He's already heard from at least one American woman who

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<v Speaker 1>appears to have the real deal. Acne Whistle's plans to

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<v Speaker 1>invite all clicker owners to England to take a tour

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<v Speaker 1>of the factory, receive an engraved commemorative whistle, and share

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<v Speaker 1>the story of the brave paratrooper who carried the clicker

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<v Speaker 1>into combat on D Day. Today's episode was written by

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<v Speaker 1>Dave Ruse and produced by Tyler Clang. Brain Stuff is

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<v Speaker 1>a production of iHeart Radio's How Stuff Works. For more

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