Cricket, Parachutist, D-Day, Hiesville, Normandy
Extremely rare genuine WWII US Army cricket, of the type massively issued to paratroops of the 101st Airborne Division on the eve of Operation Neptune.
The box-shaped brass part features an open end; the second piece, which is missing here, was a flat spring with rounded corners and a small hollow in the middle; the top of the cricket has a large hollow formed on the top part shaped to take the pressure of the thumb.
Its purpose was to allow paratroops, scattered at night in enemy territory, to identify each other. When squeezed between thumb and forefinger the cricket emits a click amplified by the sound box; a second click is produced when the pressure is released.
Quite good, used condition despite some oxidization; the 'blade' intended for being pressed with the thumb is gone.
A true D-Day relic, found in Hiesville, Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy, France.
