The ACME Clicker – The “Cricket” of the D-Day Paratroopers
The ACME Clicker – The “Cricket” of the D-Day Paratroopers
On the night of 5–6 June 1944, thousands of Allied paratroopers flew across the English Channel toward occupied France as part of the opening phase of the D-Day invasion.
Among the equipment carried by some American paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division was a tiny metal signalling device that would become one of the most recognisable pieces of equipment associated with D-Day — the ACME No. 470 Clicker, commonly known as the “Cricket.”
The device was simple, small and extremely effective. Pressing the sprung metal plate produced a sharp clicking sound that could be heard at close range.
For paratroopers landing in darkness, often scattered well away from their intended drop zones, identifying friendly soldiers was a serious problem. Calling out could reveal a soldier’s position to German troops nearby.
The Cricket provided a quieter alternative.
A paratrooper could make one click as a challenge. If the person nearby was friendly, the expected response was two clicks.
This simple system allowed troops to identify one another without immediately speaking.
Why the Cricket Was Needed
Airborne operations were chaotic by nature.
During the Normandy invasion, transport aircraft carrying paratroopers encountered cloud, anti-aircraft fire and confusion over the drop zones. Aircraft formations became separated and many paratroopers landed kilometres away from where they were supposed to be.
Once on the ground, soldiers often found themselves alone or in small groups surrounded by unfamiliar fields, villages and the famous Normandy hedgerows.
In darkness, even identifying another soldier only a few metres away could be difficult.
The Cricket was therefore designed to solve a very basic but important problem — determining whether the person nearby was friend or enemy.
The device could be operated easily with one hand and required no batteries, radio equipment or complicated instructions.
It simply clicked.
The ACME No. 470
The clicker used by the 101st Airborne was manufactured by J. Hudson & Co. of Birmingham, England, the company behind the ACME brand.
The commercial model was known as the ACME No. 470 Clicker.
Interestingly, the clicker was not originally designed specifically as a military device. Similar clickers existed commercially before the Normandy invasion.
The simplicity of the design made it ideal for military use.
The device consisted of a small metal body with a flexible steel plate mounted across the top. When the plate was pressed and released, it struck the body and produced the distinctive metallic click.
The sound led soldiers to nickname the device the “Cricket.”
The Cricket on D-Day
During the early hours of 6 June 1944, paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division began landing behind the Normandy beaches.
Their missions included securing bridges and road junctions, disrupting German communications and preventing German forces from quickly reinforcing the coastal defences.
Many paratroopers landed far from their assigned drop zones.
Small groups began forming as soldiers moved through the countryside looking for members of their units.
In the darkness, a soldier hearing movement nearby could use the Cricket.
One click.
If two clicks came back, the soldier had reason to believe another friendly paratrooper was nearby.
The clicker was used alongside other recognition methods, including verbal passwords and challenges.
One of the best-known D-Day verbal recognition systems was:
Challenge: “Flash”
Response: “Thunder”
These systems helped soldiers identify one another during the confusion of the airborne landings.
Primarily Associated With the 101st Airborne
The Cricket is most strongly associated with the United States 101st Airborne Division.
It is sometimes claimed that all American paratroopers carried clickers during D-Day, but this is not accurate.
The strongest historical evidence relates specifically to their use by the 101st Airborne Division during the Normandy operation.
There are accounts suggesting that individual soldiers from other airborne units may also have obtained clickers, but they were not generally issued across every airborne formation.
For that reason, the Cricket has become particularly associated with the men of the 101st Airborne — the “Screaming Eagles.”
A Tiny Piece of Equipment With a Big History
The Cricket was extremely small — only a few centimetres long — and could easily be carried in a uniform pocket or attached to equipment.
Compared with the weapons, parachutes, ammunition and other equipment carried by a paratrooper, the Cricket was almost insignificant.
Yet its simplicity was its greatest advantage.
There were no batteries.
No radio frequencies.
No complicated moving parts.
No lengthy training required.
A soldier could understand how to use it within seconds.
In the darkness of Normandy, that distinctive click could provide reassurance that another friendly soldier was nearby.
From D-Day Equipment to Military Collectable
After the Normandy campaign, many of the original clickers disappeared.
Some were lost during operations, while others were discarded or taken home by servicemen as souvenirs.
Original wartime examples with documented provenance are now highly sought-after pieces of airborne memorabilia.
The design itself, however, survived.
ACME continues to manufacture versions of the famous No. 470 clicker, allowing collectors, military history enthusiasts and reenactors to own an example of one of the simplest but most recognisable pieces of equipment associated with the Normandy airborne landings.
A Sound Associated With D-Day
The ACME Cricket demonstrates how even the simplest piece of equipment can become part of military history.
It was not a weapon.
It was not sophisticated technology.
It was simply a small metal device that produced a distinctive click.
But during the confusion of the Normandy landings, that sound could answer one of the most important questions facing a paratrooper moving through the darkness:
Friend or enemy?
More than eighty years after D-Day, the ACME Cricket remains an enduring symbol of the American airborne troops who parachuted into Normandy during the opening hours of 6 June 1944.