#628 The Cricket Reaper
#628
The Cricket Reaper
When it comes to World War 2 tech most people overlook the small innovations for the flashier stuff like Enigma or SIGBA. One such item was the humble clicker providing a way to identify friendlies for Infiltrators, Saboteurs, and Paratroopers to quickly locate and regroup quietly under the cover of darkness. One click to issue a challenge “Who’s There?” and two clicks meant "Friend". Many units held an unofficial 2nd response by responding to anything other than a 2-click response with a 2-Bullet response. Interestingly the idea and metal device design was taken from Catholic Schools at the time which were used to signal mass, or other activities.
Saboteurs used them too when working in broken up groups to signify readiness, to start military actions, or even mission abort. The enemy wasn’t dumb however, which allowed the Dutch resistance to turn Clickers into a form of psychological terror on The Germans giving rise to “The Dutch Crickets” being seen as synonyms of death.
Today clickers are primarily used for teaching animals through “Positive Bridging” leading to most manufacturers preferring smaller, quieter clickers. Old-style metal clickers (which can be heard from blocks away in good conditions) are still available, averaging $12 on Amazon and are primarily targeted at reenactors, and parents of multiples. In fact among some reenactor groups they still serve a lifesaving purpose, allowing those accidentally injured to quickly stop activities and signal medical attention to the area within moments. These are often preferred since they hold up to shock, dirt and liquids of all sorts, don't require contact with the mouth, cant be easily blocked, and don't run the risk of ever having dead batteries.
