Allied paratroopers were dropped into darkness behind enemy lines the night before D-Day, June 5, 1945. The darkness and the need for stealth meant regular communication was dangerous, so clickers were used. If paratroopers detected someone close by, they were to click once. Two clicks in reply meant it was friend, no response meant death (one way or another) was likely around the corner.
Acme made 7,000 paratrooper clickers before D-Day, and they were distributed with firm directions that they were only to be used within 24-hours of D-Day, as it was assumed at least some paratroopers would be killed or captured, and the clickers possibly replicated.
Because few of the clickers were made, and they were supposed to be destroyed within 24 hours of D-Day, very few originals have survived. Most of the “genuine” articles sold today are, in fact, fakes.
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