mauser and clicker...did it really happen?

kris

im on another bulliten board for historical archaeology..we are having a discussion on the idea that during ww 2 a toy clicker was in fact used during the war for a signal device and that the germans caught on to it and simulated the same noise with the bolt of the mod k98...i own a 1934 k98 and cannot make that sound they are talking about..i remember on the tv show Combat,,they had an episode about this topic.....so im looking for any feed back from ww2 vets to see if this story is in fact true or just some tv writers imagination..thanks for any reply
Kris

mark christian

I don't know about the TV show Combat, but in the feature motion picture "The Longest Day" this exact scene is played out. Even in the movie (with a dozen sound technicians working on every aspect) the difference in sound between the 5 cent clicker and the cycling of the bolt on a Kar98 Mauser rifle is pretty obvious. Even if the Germans did discover this decoy method it would involve the complete opening and closing of the Kar98 action (to make a four part click) and would mean ejecting an already loaded live round onto the ground and chambreing another. I wonder if any German troops would risk tossing away a live round on a hunch that the paratrooper would be fooled? These clickers were supposed to have been issue to airborne troops who were dropped in ahead of the invasion. You'll need to locate a few veterans of the 82nd or 101st to verify this story.

Mark T. Christian

kris

Thanks Mark

jsr65

the toy crickets are refered to te the book "band of brothers" but no metion is made of the germans mimicing the sound with bolt action rifles

MIKE WISKEY

you can simulate the four part "clik/clik...clik/clik with any mauser by just pausing between opening the bolt and moving it to the rear the moving it forward and then closing it. might not sound the same as a 'cliker' but close.