How did Paratroopers communicate on D-Day?

An overview of the "clicker" device and Signs/Countersigns used by Paratroopers.
More War Movie Content: / johnnyjohnsonesq
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Movies featured (In Order):
Band of Brothers 2001
The Longest Day 1962
Saving Private Ryan 1998
Enemy at the Gates 2001
Battle of the Bulge 1965
The Pink Panther 2006
Inglourious Basterds 2009
Star Wars: Episode VI 1983
WB WW2 Cartoon Training Video

[@NoMoreCrumbs]

As a funny example of the sign/countersign thing sometimes causing problems, General Omar Bradley was detained by a confused MP in the Battle of the Bulge. The question was "what's the capital of Illinois?" Bradley answered with "Springfield," but the MP thought it was Chicago, leading to a holdup for the officer

[@jamalwilburn228]

That's not a countersign, but more of a test on Amercian culture. This is a great example of why it should never be used. That really hurts people from Illinois to hear, but is a common false answer

[@BigHorseFilm]

How common would you say the average American knows all the state capitals outside of their own and the surrounding ones? I know that a lot of people from outside the US don't know these, as it's pretty common that US State capitals are not the most populated / well-known city in the state.

[@jamalwilburn228]

@@BigHorseFilm It's extremely low. Most Americans don't even know about half their states existence. Americans are TERRIBLE at geography as its never covered in school.

[@Chiller01]

@@jamalwilburn228 I had to memorize all the states and their capitols in 8th grade. The confusion caused by the fear of Otto Skorzeny’s commandos dressed in US Army uniforms using US vehicles caused Bradley’s inadvertent detainment. The commandos did little to actually affect the US response to the German offensive.

[@jamalwilburn228]

@@Chiller01 Yeah once and you were the minority. Most fellow Americans I met are absolutely terrible at geography. I ask where Montana is and they give a deer in the headlights moment. Some aren't even close and will point towards Texas or New York.

[@trenteaston3515]

Something most pieces of media apparently forgets is the full code was Flash, Thunder, and then the person who said Flash would say Welcome and the other person would say Welcome back. This was an additional way to check because native German speakers would say Vilcome or Willkomen. I assume most filmed works change this because it's way too long. I learned this at the "Dead Man's Corner" museum near Utah Beach in Normandy since they have a super comprehensive American airborne museum.

[@majestic._]

i love how the comments on this channel are all sharing little tidbits of history, adding to the video. i love reading them

[@roelmartinvandervelde9407]

Hear hear! The "Dead Man's Corner" museum is a lovely little place next to the airborne museum, i visited this summer. It really "corners" (sorry) an actual tactical event in the battle from all angles. (PC game Brothers in Arms has the action angle)

[@eamonnclabby7067]

Mrs C,s da served in the Chindits in Burma alongside the Gurkhas ( who he thought very highly of..) ,who disconcertingly used smell and touch both in the Western Desert and in the jungle of Burma...the Kings Regiment ( his parent outfit) , learnt a lot from the Gurkhas... incorporated smell and sound..and not responding to Japanese shouting nightly ..

[@johnbeauvais3159]

I think it was for the operation dragoon drop but the call was “George” and the response was “Washington” I imagine for the exact same reason, the W sound would have been a giveaway.

[@MrRjh63]

@@eamonnclabby7067 I also read a story that they(the Gurkhas) were up in trees camoed up and would brush the helmets at night with their fingers to try to tell if the soldiers below were brits or Japanese by the feel of it.

[@pingwenhung8327]

I think in the modern day era, people forgot just how dark is COMPLETELY Dark at night Can't see a thing, rely on moon light to see, a small light can easily reveal your position So let alone finding each other, using light was off-limits for sure Clicker and Sound command was definitely one of the way to go for them.

[@HandyMan657]

We still have Grandpa's, it's not been touched in many years but it's still there in his box of WW2 gear. Dude, shibboleth, nice.

[@aaronpaul9188]

The clickers werent only given to paratroopers. My grandfather landed on the beaches and kept his clicker. He was a special unit though.

[@02Tony]

One of the stories I had heard was a paratrooper being interviewed in the 2000's with reenactors who had gotten lost at night (possibly D Day), after a while he found an unknown soldier whom he couldn't tell if it was friend or foe. He used his clicker but the unknown soldier did not respond and he called out to the unknown soldier but again no response. Before he could do anything else the unknown soldier started to move towards the paratrooper who had seconds to decide to kill him or be killed. Lukily for both it was another American paratrooper. He asked the guy why didn't he use his clicker to which the he replied he had lost it and when asked why he couldn't he call out after hearing the clicker or his voice, the response was he had run out of water and was too hoarse to talk loudly. I can't remember what he said after but the paratrooper must have state it was a scary experience and that caused him to freeze thereby saving the unknown soldier. This documentary was in the 2000's and I have no way of providing proof but nevertheless was an example of when communication failed. There was a seperate event British paratrooper in regards to communication but that is for another time.

[@Teriton]

I remember reading this story in the original Band of Brothers book. I've long lost my copy though so I can't look it up

[@panthercreek60]

Sounds like the account of Donald burgett in his book, "Currahee"

[@jamalwilburn228]

Call out: "Damn Daniel" Counter: "What are those?"

[@ericsilver9401]

When I was pretty young I went to the ww2 museum in New Orleans and they had a paratrooper from the 101st that landed in Normandy at a booth there. He told me his story of getting lost that night after landing in a tree and spending most of his time hiding from search parties. One of my favorite memories is when he let me use his clicker

[@BigHorseFilm]

Still super impressed with how you manage to think of relevant clips for even the minor references. Good show.

[@trainknut]

Over the years the "flash/thunder" code words have become so iconic that the clickers often get overlooked, I haven't seen very many videos detailing them, this is probably the second I've seen discussing them in detail. Despite being less iconic, it's likely most paratroopers used the clickers whenever they could, as its far more subtle than screaming something out in plain American English... You'd only say "flash" if you were ready to kill the guy if he didn't respond, but the clicker could alert you to a friendly nearby without even seeing him.

[@RusskiBlusski]

Back in 2016 I visited the Overlord museum in France, in the souvenir shop you could buy these clickers for very cheap. I thought about it for a little bit and then decided against it because in my mind I went something along "what am I going to do with this piece of metal" and my dad looked at me and told me that I was going to regret it. As soon as we left the museum and sat down in our car I regretted it but I couldn't admit how stupid I was. Every time I see them in movies I am reminded of that moment at the souvenir shop and every time I am reminded of how much I regret it.

[@billykorando6820]

I do like how you point out people making mistakes under stress. To often you see audiences critique a movie or character for “doing something stupid” in a high stress situation. And well, people might be stupid or irrational when in combat situations, faced with extreme danger, or dealing with other things like sleep deprivation, exhaustion, or lack of food.

[@sethrich5998]

Yup. Not combat but just a funny example of that I have. I was on a student engineering car racing team and there were a few weeks of long days getting the car built in time for the competition. One late night a guy is doing some welding on the chassis and the car catches on fire. He frantically stands up, puts his hands up by his face like Ricky Bobby, starts spinning in circles, and yelling “flamethrower!” repeatedly. In his panic he forgot the word for fire extinguisher. lol

[@k9turrent]

Now that we sometime use light flashes for identification, it's always an odd number to add up to (3+4=7), since troops are lazy and would use the half number, and an enemy would/could respond the same flashes and deceive the troop

[@bkirke]

The SPR thunder/flash mistake is interesting because it could be easily fixed via ADR in a re-release of the film. Tom Hanks faces away from the camera when he yells, and the guy who responds is off screen.

[@apropercuppa8612]

Doesn’t matter, as the Paras also get it wrong on a number of occasions too.

[@jamalwilburn228]

Alot of these guys didn't have radios so thry wouldn't know what the follow on countersigns were. 24 hours is just the general rule, not that they knew what proceeded it.

[@conspiracy_marine9238]

maybe in that instance they thought that it was past the change time but didnt know of the next one so a simple reversal would do in that scenario

[@themightypen1530]

I was watching The Longest Day with one of my female friends and she goes "That's not a thingie that's a rifle!" trying to keep the guy from revealing his position. I was impressed.

[@jedi_yt365]

I love these types of videos along with your normal content, you deserve a lot more views, keep up the great work!

[@JohnnyJohnsonEsq]

Hello there! And thank you! I'll try to keep mixing it up.

[@rwcowell]

Great video on a subject that rarely is discussed. I served in the 82nd Airborne and was part of the night drops in Operation Just Cause, Panama 1989. I can't imagine the type of hell those paratroopers encountered on the D-Day drops into Normandy. They are all true heroes. I'm curious if the British Paras had a similar clicker device and used similar codewords for the D-Day airborne drops. I don't recall if I ever seen much subject matter about this particular area when it came to the British 6th Airborne operations during D-Day. Most I recall are from the Longest Day and maybe a few small documentaries, but never delved into code words and self identifier props used. Cheers!

[@charlessaint7926]

One paratrooper story I remember, on D-Day a 101st Airborne guy landed alone and didn't have a cricket. He was approached by a stranger who challenged him, "Flash!" and the scared paratrooper said, "Lightning!" The stranger threw a grenade at him and ran off. Thankfully the 101st trooper escaped unharmed.

[@Fae-Fey]

Isn't that in the S. Ambrose book "The Band of Brothers"?

[@olympusxi8436]

@@Fae-Fey yup

[@VikingTeddy]

Not only do I sometimes learn new things, You've introduced me to quite a few movies I wasn't aware of.

[@L_Train]

In the pacific, the marines used countersigns with the letter L in them because it was hard for the Japanese to pronounce L

[@JohnnyJohnsonEsq]

I hear lollipop was a popular one

[@L_Train]

@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq Eugene Sledge remembered using "Chevrolet"

[@eamonnclabby7067]

@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq the forgotten fourteenth army did something similar in Burma, although keeping quiet paid dividends ....

[@edgaraquino2324]

​@@JohnnyJohnsonEsqalso "lollygag"...😊

[@christophersnyder1532]

A great new video, these never get boring, not even long after they have been out! Take care, and all the best, this includes all who are watching.

[@JohnnyJohnsonEsq]

Thanks man really appreciate the comment and how long you've been a supporter :)

[@eamonnclabby7067]

You too ,Christopher...more eclectic stuff on Rude Guy KZbin... UFO ,and Postman Pat will never be the same again...thankfully...E

[@bavtie1]

There's a fun shibboleth in Dutch as well, which is used in the movie ''Soldaat van Oranje''. You just had to repeat ''Scheveningen'' (a part of the city of Den Haag) Pretty much no foreigners, including Germans, are able to pronounce this properly and could thus be identified.

[@ronaldtartaglia4459]

You put a lot of work into this I can tell. The seamless b roll back up and a roll support video is on point. The star wars cut away made laugh my ass off.

[@Rosfuture]

flash!

[@nostradamusofgames5508]

thunder!

[@Predator42ID]

Bang!

[@DarthPudden]

Entschuldigung?

[@BeingFireRetardant]

Dunder-Mifflin...

[@eamonnclabby7067]

Ahhhh...saviour of the universe...!!!...

[@iowa_lot_to_travel9471]

Clicking good review. It didnt go Klink like a certain ww2 commandant. 😅😅

[@maxamillionjazzhands4034]

Fun fact about the flash/thunder sign, in the pacific theater, the word was commonly "lollapalooza" as even if a Japanese soldier knew the codeword, pronouncing it was very difficult as there is no "L" in the Japanese alphabet.

[@Ramboost007]

Its shown in The Pacific, the passcode that time was "lorelei"

[@mbryson2899]

Branching into etymology, Johnny? Nice!

[@JohnnyJohnsonEsq]

I have this secret long play where I branch out of modern warfare to other topics. Mostly to protect my long term mental health lol

[@mbryson2899]

@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq I'll enjoy whatever you put out for us, brother. 😁

[@eamonnclabby7067]

@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq I can recommend Bi neurol beat or Alpha waves...or the intro to Hergist ridge by Mike Oldfield...transports me ..or a decent cheeky merlot...slainte...

[@rolfagten857]

The unofficial sequel to "The Longest day" (1962) was "Up from the Beach" (1965) a hard-to-find war film about the Normandy landings with 3 cast members from "The Longest day"in it. I don't think there was a clicker toy in it. In "Overlord" (2019) this clicker toy aspect was completely forgotten!

[@rolfagten857]

In "up from the beach" they are used by the US infantry 7th army corps on D-Day+1 near Vierville. Cliff Robertson had one in his hands. My mistake!

[@JohnnyJohnsonEsq]

Thanks for adding this 🙏

[@korbell1089]

In all fairness, Overlord was monster movie and their military expert was someone who owned a GI Joe once.😅

[@BobSmith-dk8nw]

_Up From the Beach_ en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Up_from_the_Beach The Movie kzbin.info/www/bejne/nHfVoYSbe8yriKs .

[@colinbarron4]

I have one of these brass clickers. I used to use it to make a clicking noise when I was working as a clinical hypnotherapist. I used to use techniques in which I was supposed to click my fingers at one point but I am not good at clicking my fingers so I used a clicker instead.

[@JohnnyJohnsonEsq]

that's a creative use for it! Very cool and practical.

[@evancrum6811]

Johnny- Love you doing anything with The Longest Day. Keep it up

[@JohnnyJohnsonEsq]

Owed the movie some love after overlooking it in the Bangalore vid 🙏

[@evancrum6811]

@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq Thank you! Should do a review of it. I forgot if you did already

[@dragonstormdipro1013]

You deserve props for using Pink Panther footage in an educational video about ww2

[@Docv400]

That Steve Martin abomination is NOT a Pink Panther Movie. I like Steve Martin a lot, but can't forgive him for that one . . .

[@StarsAndSnipes344]

Allegedly, paratroopers were also known to impersonate higher ranking officers, especially to get their platoons on the move. Allegedly.

[@TheCyborgCast]

At 3:02 my grandfather told me that scene they just pass each other. That was years ago and I was trying to find this scene and the title of the movie.

[@miketaylorID1]

"Anything mechanical, give it a good baash!" -Capt. Maud's old grandmother

[@frankjrmuchnok2647]

I'm always happy to see a new video from you come up. The mix of old movie clips along with a history lesson are always welcome. I'm sure your subscribers will climb as more people discover your work.

[@JohnnyJohnsonEsq]

Thanks Frank. Much appreciated.

[@eamonnclabby7067]

Seconded

[@jackstecker5796]

When I was working nuclear security as a badguy, we tried using similar clickers we got from a pet supply store for dog training. Abject failure, as the sound carries surprisingly far. So too, did flicking the dust cover on our M-4s. Snapping your fingers was better, but not ideal. The most successful thing we tried, was hissing at people. Get their attention, then give them hand signals. What they call, "non-verbal communication." Biggest thing was, "don't radiate anything unless you drop dead need to on the infiltration, before we go dynamic." No lasers, no lights, no IR illuminator, no chemsticks, no radios, no cell phones. We even developed a device to conceal/ spoof radiant body heat against thermal imagers. If you're emitting anything, you get detected. Once you go dynamic, all the gloves come off. It's just a matter of getting to your last cover and concealment (LCC), without being detected. Then it's party time.

[@wspencerwatkins]

What do you mean by nuclear security? Are you talking about like a training scenario involving an infiltration of a silo/wherever the nukes are stored?

[@jackstecker5796]

@@wspencerwatkins Commercial nuclear power plants. Our job was to melt them down. The thermal thing was hilarious. The pro-force was saying, "you can't hide from thermal!" My adversaries were like, "hold my beer and watch this!" Suffice it to say, butthurt was inflicted.

[@wspencerwatkins]

@@jackstecker5796 oh a power plant, my mind immediately jumped to nuclear weapons. Sounds like an interesting job for sure

[@jackstecker5796]

@@wspencerwatkins You have no idea. When I first started, I talked to reactor operators who been there since the reactor was first fired up, in the early '60s. They showed me pictures that proved, when they first went "critical", they didn't even have a fence around the place. Blew my mind.

[@AwesomeNinja1027]

3:07 a platoon of American paratroopers and a platoon of German soldiers passed by each other without even noticing they are in close proximities with each other. Until one guy finally notices it.

[@imadrifter]

Dunno if this was based on a real event or just a Hollywood created scene, but it sure seems plausible, especially on D-Day minus 1 when there were paratroopers spread all over France and german infantry spread out to counterattack. The Germans could have easily been at a lower state of alert as the Allies had been dropping those paratrooper shaped doll noisemakers all over France, near Normandy and Calais in the weeks leading up to D-day, so they very likely could have thought they were on a wild Goose chase and thought the column of soldiers were friendly, as the Americans did as well.

[@MyBlueZed]

@@imadrifter The movie The Longest Day is very closely based on the book (same title) by Cornelius Ryan. The events are recounted in the book from Ryan’s interviews with veterans from both sides.

[@imadrifter]

@@MyBlueZed thank you 👍🏻

[@jamalwilburn228]

If you ever been outside in the dark with no lights, it's really hard to see who a person is. Did if for a field op and it became solely memorizing where eveything was to navigate

[@AwesomeNinja1027]

@@imadrifter I think Johnny Johnson did a video about that doll with live firecrackers several months ago.

[@OtherWorldExplorers]

Next time we fight Germany the code words should be thunder and the response should be squirrel.... 😁 But I don't see that happening anytime soon.

[@chrisd2051]

Imagine being a German that night: "Hey Fritz, hörst du klicken?"

[@JakeTheBear1]

A metal cap of a Glass bottle gatorade makes the same sound. Used to play with those!

[@eamonnclabby7067]

Or pull the stopper off a half litre bottle of water ..then shout grenade.very anti social....

[@johnbeauvais3159]

The classic Acme No. 470, offered in brass or with a nickel plated finish. I’ve played with them and depending on how much of your thumb is on the steel tab you can get the soft click like in BoB or the harsh clack like TLD. I’ve seen pictures of them taped to the chinstrap of the helmet which seems like a smart idea to keep it handy. I think I’d want the softest click I could manage because other troopers will be listening for that noise, an enemy wouldn’t and I don’t want to announce myself with a harsh metallic sound

[@dragonstormdipro1013]

Speaking about Shibboleth... This is not an example of that, but during 1971 war, Indian navy would only use coded Russian as the language for signals to confuse the Pakistanis. The radio chatter would also be in Russian. Worked extremely well, infact so well that was a big reason behind the success of Operation trident.

[@thekhoifish0146]

*[whispers] very quietly*

[@levisgarage7212]

An episode on WW1 biplanes would be sick!!!!!!

[@usarmy500]

Clickers

[@geordiedog1749]

I remember watching Longest Day as a bairn and being really upset when the paratrooper was shot mistaking the bolt cycle for a clicker. Nice topic choice. You got a list of topics, then?

[@JohnnyJohnsonEsq]

I got a long list and I write down every suggestion. Some I start and they go sideways. I might try to the M1 Garand "Ping" myth next or the M14 either next or soon after.

[@eamonnclabby7067]

@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq ah the creative process leads us up hill and down again...I feel sure you will know it when you see it....

[@eamonnclabby7067]

PS....been up on the Fells...will catch up on your other very interesting posts...

[@geordiedog1749]

@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq Pint!!! Good one. I think anyone who has ever fired a rifle without ear protection knows the answer to that one.

[@callsigntonks4029]

Ayy before 1k views again and keep up the good videos

[@JohnnyJohnsonEsq]

Heck ya. Thanks for the support.

[@corbynxavier1162]

ahh yes another great video from johnny why am i not suprised

[@JohnnyJohnsonEsq]

Thanks as always my man

[@novacat3032]

i remember in a book about Pacific Theater of Operations they mentioned that code-words like Lollipop where chosen there, for beeing hard to pronounce by japanese soldiers

[@historythings6939]

W merch john!! I will have to pick some up on my birthday!!!

[@JohnnyJohnsonEsq]

Giving it a go. Any design you'd like to see?

[@historythings6939]

@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq I added a comment on ur new review video😉

[@Demolitiondude]

There was another movie that used apple as it's signal countersignal. The signal was Apple. Trying to remember if it was bake or pie for friendly. If the other was used frag out.

[@brucefoster8000]

Great content! How about a video on hand signals used on patrols? I can't find anything on this topic.

[@charliefoxtrott1048]

"Flash!" ... "Gordon!" .. and that's how I met my maker

[@MisanthropicOcellus]

Hey a fantastic video as always! I just have one minor correction:) the training cartoon is called "Rookie revue" and its actually by WB, same people responsible for Pvt. Snafu

[@impcec6734]

I always think about those old movies about the war and wonder how many men were in them who were also troopers in the war themselves.

[@korbell1089]

You would be surprised at how many were veterans.👍

[@6theplane]

I have seen so many good shows and movies because of your videos. Thank, and keep up the good work!

[@schizoidboy]

I think that cartoon was actually a Warner Bros cartoon not a Disney one as listed, sorry. Incidentally I remember watching a History Channel show about D-Day, it might have been a companion segment to a movie or something else, but it had a German soldier along with some Americans and the Germans called the clickers "frogs" because it probably sounded more like frogs to them than crickets.

[@JohnnyJohnsonEsq]

You are right that is a WB cartoon. Dang. Good spot. Thanks for adding the frog tidbit 👍

[@eamonnclabby7067]

@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq as Michael Caine was wont to say...not a lot of people know that....

[@schizoidboy]

@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq Thanks, I just watch too many cartoons, especially the Bugs Bunny ones.

[@dimitriofthedon3917]

I had a cricket as a kid and I'm 24 so we still have them now in the UK

[@19MAD95]

Lady Liberty and other L based words were used in the Pacific, because of the difficulty native Japanese speakers have with the letter L.

[@rundownthriftstore]

Dude you make great videos. My only complaint isn’t that they aren’t longer. Do you have a twitch or podcast or anything?

[@JohnnyJohnsonEsq]

Not at the moment. This is still "season one" for me so I'm still figuring all that out. I appreciate the kind words and will see how I can expand on things in the future.

[@eamonnclabby7067]

@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq maybe a festival of sorts either online or Johnny goes to Hollywood....just like Frankie...sorry had to get the Holly Johnson bit in...

[@wieeinstlilimarleen]

@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq I like the current format. Lot of info in a short time-frame, no need to be longer in my opinion.

[@franzivan4567]

Yes, in some movies and even games like company of heroes the "Flash, thunder" countersign was in reverse, which had me confused which one was actually correct

[@dareka9425]

US Paratroopers 1: "Click!" US Paratrooper 2: "Click...click!" German soldier nearby: "Get to the choppa!"

[@arnijulian6241]

Cricket clackers for the airborne was made Hudson & co Johnny. Cricket clackers where before toys as a means for marching band & orchestra conductor's to keep timing in practice. British para's never used clickers as they where dropped with No'21 or 18 radio sets at the squad level & used light signals to get together or short flares if need be. Once together they would use luminous discs & various reflective marker on uniform to keep track of each other that could be covered or uncovered. More Often then not they they didn't need the above mentioned as drop bundles had bundle lamps on them that ran of D cells dropped ahead of the troops they all legged it to the drop bundle to form together. Colours of the parachutes & lamps for the wicker bundles are as follows for all colours are hard to see at night unless you are looking for it knowingly already. Khaki - personal gear, haversacks and rifles Blue - food Supplies Yellow - medical Supplies Red - weapons/ammunition White - miscellaneous equipment. The D cells would only run for minutes once dropped but that was all that was needed. Yanks played with clickers as as airborne while brits just legged it to the a bunch of wicker baskets with coloured electric lamps & chutes. USA & British approach to parachute troops was very different as yanks had them work independently often getting them killed looking for each other alone & frightened. Brits used bundles & or gliders as rally points. Using a flare as a rally point if all went wrong. British paras had other gear for signalling but it all followed the same idea of assemble at point x basically. once assembled the portable radio teams would communicate to the each others working as intendent blocks constantly relaying each other movement but not position so as to not be intercepted. If you are wondering how British troopers transported wireless sets well then had flat pack bicycle's in the white bundles or vehicles dropped by glider which was preferable as a No'18 wireless set weighed shy of 30Ibs with other sets used by para being less weight. The Radios where dropped with a hand cart if all else failed but was not desirable as you had to lug it around instead of vehicle. if the cart failed it was straps & back which was even less preferable. The No.18 had roughly a 10 mile communication distance for perspective. The 18 set was undesirable as it weighed more then others British para sets but often had no other choice. What I never understood about yanks is they didn't use their equivalent wireless 48mk1 for their airborne? we also had Infantry Handset Radiotelephone since 1942 though in limited number for important paras. Yanks didn't lug around a wireless till the SCR-300/walkie talkie being the original walkie talkie in 1945. The SCR 300 is good but the yank only had it for a some months. Radios was something the yanks didn't like to make light as they just stu8ck them in jeeps & such in ww2. I can ramble more about radios & such but British para's where a lot more well equipped then the USA airborne our troop had been assembled for 1/2 a decade & not in less then a year for D day. Britain also had a lot more experience to now what to bring & could para drop vehicles unlike yank forces by glider. Funnily the most dangerous thing the yanks had & lacked was a quick release button on their chutes body harness which lead to the majority of Airborne troop death on D-day from drowning in German purposly flooded position behind the beach's by Rommel's order. A simple catch design lead to thousands of deaths as they got pulled down into the water by their chute unlike the British para's. We warned politely & they USA high command wouldn't listen as they never do. Another ''Admiral king'' moment by the USA high command. Always find it funny how yanks ignore others intuition & advice to their own detriment even from those that have been at something for longer.

[@JohnnyJohnsonEsq]

Excellent expanded info. There are a few movies featuring British paratroopers in length should be easy enough to do a British project on the subject. This video was a bit shorter than I wanted so thanks for this. Was lacking some footage. Will have to start actually acquiring some props and making my own footage in the future if I can develop a budget for it.

[@arnijulian6241]

​@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq You never now Johnny! You could be director, stranger things have happened. You couldn't make a worse movie then what comes of woke Hollywood in the last decade or so. Surprised you found the footage you did. ww2 Para's aren't covered much. Only now what I now from rambling elders & bits written about. Old man was a para for a bit after a black cap for stint & marine though always an engineer/mechanic in said roles for 13 years. My old man para lot always thought the airborne soft as they don't jump below 950 feet. You see Britain back in the day jumped without parachute with kit to cushion from below 200feet by Tuck & roll. Chutes even today don't deploy in time to matter from 700feet. To quote the old man ''it not the fall that kills you but how you land'' Airborne thought them mad along with Ghurkha's for jumping without chutes. Old man never liked how yanks treated the Ghurkha's while stationed on exchange years back in Texas. For that his lot 1/2 inched all the vending machines & took a bunch of stuff like motors as yanks for some reason leave armouries-garages unguarded on base. He went their to train them in jungle warfare bringing the best as guest's & the yanks choose to insult them. To make light of a Ghurkha, the shear arrogance.

[@eamonnclabby7067]

@@arnijulian6241 not in this house...Eamonn the younger has a pal who was an officer with the Gurkha Sappers/ Combat Engineers..he speaks highly of them as did Mrs C,s da who served alongside the Gurkhas in the Chindits in Burma...top men we are fortunate indeed to have these fine men..

[@arnijulian6241]

​@@eamonnclabby7067 Heard of a Éamonn Young though he was a black Irish footballer from Ireland cork. Or is it your own line on account of your own name Eamonn. would like some context if you could. Not aware of a (Mr C's da). Certainly an unusual name! Ghurkha have their name on account of the Ghorka hills/mountains they inhabit in Nepal. Mountaineer's as much as engineers /sapper with most of them being in logistics or royal signals. They often now more about the Shan highland jungles of south east Asian & south India then the natives do. You get all sort in the states & many of them have never left their Home state in their life. You can't blame them for not knowing much of the world. Honest opinion of the states is they are as unpopular as the Turk's behind the Chinese, Russian & Israel. The 5 mentioned are likely the least popular people in the world for a variety of differing reasons. I don't mean offence but the amount yanks I met that underestimate the elements/natural world. Mind a lot of the British youth have picked up certain yank qualities of late but only the poor ones. Inheriting their arrogance but their business sense. I like to remind the British people we are subject's. They have been getting all sorts of daft idea in their head & no value for tradition! Mind the amount of socialists you get in Blighty irritates me to no end the idealistic hypocrites! Communists are the only lot I really don't like as conditional monarchist. I don't now how the states became so socialist in such a short time. I think it was caused by infiltration of your Academia & Media as the same tactic today is being used in our isle for the last decade. Mind you can't expect yanks to permit others when they don't permit each other. Amazing hoe divided yanks become due to politics. I mean back in the day the states was very racist & still some what is but the pollical divide is so ridiculous it has made it's way Blighty & the continentals in the old world. I honesty wouldn't mind yanks if they concerns & issues remained localised.

[@arnijulian6241]

@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq can't blame you for not wanting to jump as a chute doesn't always deploy. Why the old man brought a spare on his front! Odd for them to send TA out the back of a aircraft? Sounds mad but I'd sooner die in arms with a Ghurkha or Sikh these days then most quisling Brit's. More British tradition lives on in Nigeria & India these days! London has become Stabistan & I how they made my creed's city carrion of it former self. All the while still declaring it the centre of the world but it is a joke & shadow of it former self. The surface updated but much of the guts & under belly over century old to queen Victoria's day. Once bone the flesh has been picked clean to the bone or we have another large war I don't see much of our imports remaining resided. To many no where people in the south of England regardless & this go's for any complexion. Why people choose to live in a nation they despise be it past or present just for money is beyond my reasoning! I'd reply to the rest of your message Johnny but it got cut short at ''though'' for some reason. Seems the algorithmic doesn't like you either?

[@matthewnewell4517]

John Wayne, he was 54 years old. He starred as Lt. Col. Benjamin Vandervoort, who was only 27 at the time.

[@celtictemplar]

Oddly enough there is also another type of way of communication that was used, and it was used by the British Paratroopers. And I am not kidding, this is too stupid to make up, but the British Paratroopers used rubber ducks, rather than the clickers that the American Paratroopers used.

[@JohnnyJohnsonEsq]

This needs a video lol

[@eamonnclabby7067]

True

[@jackstecker5796]

I may or may not have tossed a rubber duck into a room I was about to clear, while yelling, "QUACK OUT!" Confused the shit out of people. Can't tell you how many times I made entry only to find people staring at the rubber ducky, with this WTF? look on their faces. I also had a buddy who deployed to Afghanistan, back in, 2009? Anyway, he found somebody on etsy who made Angry Birds slip-covers for his M-67 frags. Of course, he didn't tell the person that they were actually for hand grenades. I think he told them they were to protect racquet balls, or something like that. I always imagined some artist, slaving over a sewing machine, thinking, "wow, the army sure plays a lot of racquet ball in Afghanistan." LMFAO.

[@OldMusicFan83]

You should do a video on radios and field telephones in war movies

[@matthewmcmacken6716]

I honestly expected more on hand signals. lol

[@Shorthairification]

It's an older code sir, but it checks out...

[@ak9989]

I went a militaria show in June and a dealer was selling a ww2 paratrooper pathfinder equipment lamp, completely intact. I was going to buy it but already spent too much😂. Maybe next time.

[@Irishpewtuber]

Another cool video Johnny thanks. I keep checking out your new uploads hoping one will be a mini 14 in the movies, hasn't arrived yet though 😔

[@MyBlueZed]

3:45 One of the more commonly mispronounced words is proNUNCiation. It’s not proNOUNCiation. I find this ironic and amusing. 🤣🤣 Love your work! ❤️🇦🇺

[@doppled]

if a word is pronounced wrong commonly, is it a mispronounciation anymore?

[@MyBlueZed]

@@doppled If two wrongs don’t make a right, a thousand wrongs are hardly likely to.

[@BeingFireRetardant]

Used to have a clicker as a kid. Wish I would have kept it.

[@JohnnyJohnsonEsq]

There are some decent inexpensive replicas out there.

[@tuomaskoivurinne1653]

I received one as a birthday present few years ago. I was surprised of how loud it actually is.

[@edwardvincentbriones5062]

I imagine using the clicker to communicate in Morse Code.

[@JohnnyJohnsonEsq]

Quick and dirty. The safest way. Otherwise it'd be all you were focusing on.

[@HappiKarafuru]

Ah yes, never forgets the call of "Thunder" and "flash", the sign and countersign method. I only know it because of Videogames like Mw2 of the Rangers use "Star" and "Texas"

[@Wykletypl]

Hmm, I read that clickers were previously used on Sicily in 1943. And there iut turned out their sound made paratroopers easier prey for enemy snipers. Which is why paras prefered the 'flash/thunder' call-out.

[@LaQuack306]

Says if a friendly paratrooper was nearby they could let out two clicks conveniently uses the scene in the longest day were the paratrooper gets duped by German by hearing two clicks and get shot

[@clearcreek69]

German citizens also have difficulty saying the word Squirrel.

[@danentakoto2701]

There was that movie with a paratrooper who got shot because hhe thought the other clicking noise was a friend. Sad but funny at the same time. But what really got me cracking up was the two squads of German and allied paratroopers who walked on either side of a very low stone wall whilst looking the other way from one another and walking in opposite directions...i think that part was for comic relief. Still funny as hell though. Edit: Nevermind, my memory is a little funky but they showed the clip of that scene here with two squads. Oh man that look was priceless.

[@tomnewham1269]

One story I read from D Day that an American paratrooper heard some noise on the other side of a hedgerow and stood up to look and ended up looking straight at a German soldier. They both dropped down and walked away without either firing a shot.

[@richardstephens5570]

The squads of enemies walking past each other wasn't comic relief, it really happened to soldiers in the 508th PIR.

[@dragonstormdipro1013]

Nice video. In India we use bird noises rather than crickets.

[@imadrifter]

Query: Thunder Response: Flash Adrian Caparzo: Take this letter, Fish

[@Ribeirasacra]

Shibboleths. Germans cannot pronounce the name of the Dutch city of Scheveningen. Thus Dutch resistance fighters could establish the nationality of the person. True story form my late father in law who was in the resistance. It is a well know fact that there were a lot of infiltrators spying on the Dutch resistance.

[@killzoneisa]

I don't recall any game where you play as the Paratroopers having you use the clicker tool or use the password.

[@DarthPudden]

Stop that clicking! You'll go blind I tells you!

[@eamonnclabby7067]

Call for Matron...

[@latewizard301]

Also a lot of people are saying that the Kar in the movie sounds EXACTLY like the clicker, no it doesn't, as he points out, the soldier made a mistake. When you are trained to click and tl remember that 2 clicks back is a friendly, it's easy to make that mistake.

[@PowellPeraltask8er]

So under the roar of airplane engines, explosions, anti aircraft, and machine gun fire. Paratroopers were expected to hear the metallic click of a children’s toy?

[@JohnnyJohnsonEsq]

It's for once they are on the ground where it may take days to get organized and link up with their units.

[@tabletopgeneralsde310]

Nice one Johnny, did you know that the cricker ist still made with the same tools today like pre D-Day and can still be purchased? I have one here next to my desk.

[@JohnnyJohnsonEsq]

I might just get one myself.

[@UncleRuckuss]

Just imagine if they would have had snapchat in those days!

[@nursestoyland]

Recommendation: can u pls do the reising gun?

[@jacoblush]

Good job

[@jodiarthur2448]

What about the mosin nagant rife or Lee Enfield rifles

[@subsidingjoshua9354]

Good video. 👍

[@kevintaylor791]

And today, you can buy one for a couple bucks at a pet store and use it to train your dog.

[@Chiller01]

As a kid I remember being bummed when Sal Mineo was killed by the German and afterward he worked his bolt. I figured half the paratroopers were gonna be killed because of that stupid oversight.

[@Lord.Kiltridge]

I know the vid is about clickers and that only Americans carried them. But some Americans think Alaska is an island because of the way Canada is deleted from American maps and by ignoring the British and Canadian paras you have left the door open for people to assume that the 13,000 American paratroopers who dropped into France are the *_only_* paratroopers who dropped into France. Over 7,000 British and Canadian paras dropped. Many died. It's not right to give the impression that they weren't there.

[@JohnnyJohnsonEsq]

I'm a Canadian myself and as someone who is proud of my history I never feel like it is overlooked. This was a focus on American paratroopers as they were the only ones using the "clicker" devices. I do try to highlight Canadian/British history wherever possible. I was a British army reservist as a teenager so it's fair to say I naturally slip in British/Canadian history in most my videos. Though heck I do feel bad about leaving out all the allies sometimes from Brazil to India.

[@Lord.Kiltridge]

@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq I just would have structured that one sentence differently is what I'm saying.

[@eamonnclabby7067]

@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq one of us...one of us...the British and Canadians had the most tank skills D day to the end of ww2....

[@andrewcombe8907]

One thing that really irritates me is Hollywood showing men talking to each other in aeroplanes and helicopters in the air and with engines going. In reality in an un insulated aircraft you can’t hear sh&t over the noise of engines unless it’s yelled in your ear.

[@brianstabile165]

Where can I get one of these so called “clickers”

[@wolvesgabemaster5385]

*Click* *Click* FLASH!

[@brothercaptainwarhammer]

Ever since the "Thunder and Flash" scene in SPR, me and my fellow war film enthusiast friends started to use that as some sort of code. I Cant remember what or why, as we were still in Elementary back then.... Probably for something Stupid and Childish, but yeah much more later we watched BoB and we learned of the Correct Way to use the Code, after debating which to follow, from SPR or BoB... probably a Stupid Argument by today's Standards, especially since factual accounts and real life proof are just one search away in Google, though you need to be mindful at what you reading first before actually believing what was written, unless its a proven and official source. I also like that you put the Scene where Buck fucks up his Grenade Throw, seeing that scene actual made be skip a heartbeat when watching it for the First Time. Either I like this video tackling things in movies that are normally not tackled, or needs extra research by the Viewer to better understand it, thank you for that Johny! Keep up the Damn Fine Work, my Friend!

[@JasonT404]

Shibboleth is a great west wing episode