From the article: “The crickets were handed out at lunchtime on June 5, a tiny last-minute addition to a hefty 70-pound pack that included rifles, ammunition, hand grenades and assorted survival gear the 12,000 paratroopers of the 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions carried into battle on D-Day.
The little clicker gets a bad rap in the epic 1962 war movie “The Longest Day.” In the inevitable showings this week, poor Pvt. Martini will again mistake the clack of a German rifle bolt for a response to his cricket. Movie buffs like to point out the German kills Martini with two shots from a single-shot rifle.
A less known fact: the cricket sounded nothing like a rifle bolt.
Few original D-Day crickets are still known to exist.
“I have been in the airborne museum business for 30 years and I’ve only seen a couple,” said John Duvall, director of the Airborne & Special Operations Museum in Fayetteville, N.C. He said collectors have offered to sell him original World War II crickets for up to $500.”
IIRC, the crickets were exclusively isued to the 101st. I don't believe they were part of the issue for the 82nd.
My 89 year old dad was a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne. He still has his cricket, though he believes he just lost it. We are frantically searching for it, but I wonder if anyone knows if you can buy an original. I have seen the reproductions, but they won’t do. Thank you.