Was ‘Mickey Mouse’ used as a code word for any allied offensive in WWII? I’ve heard that it was.
I don’t know if “Mickey Mouse” was a code phrase, but German ace Adolf Galland had Mickey Mouse painted on his aircraft.
I think they were just called “crickets”. I don’t think they were supposed to sound like one.
Good God, awmighty, David.
I salute you.
FWIW, “Thunder/Flash” was used only on D-Day.
D-Day+1 to +3, Thirsty-Victory.
D-Day+3 to +6, Weapon-Throat.
D-Day+6 to +9, Wool-Rabbit.
The crickets in Band of Brothers didn’t sound right either.
No. Our group was attacked by two of them on a mission, that I fortunately missed, near Munich late in the war. We had no losses and I have not idea what happened to the Me’s.
I was in the ETO in a Martin B-26 outfit, the 344th Bomb Group, 9th AF. The two infantry divisions you mention were originally in the Med, landed in southern France with the 7th Army in December of 1944.
David: Is Scheissheim a real name? Sounds a bit scatalogical to me.
I agree. It reads and sounds a lot better with an “l” inserted between the “ch” and the “ei” making it “Schleissheim.” It’s a town a few miles north of Munich and about 8 miles or so east of Dachau.
I thought I saw them using Zippo lighters to click with, rather than a small gadget. Am I misremembering? (I also seem to recall seeing in a documentary about lighters that the Zippo was used by some soldiers in such a fashion.)
Am I correct in assuming that the “flash - thunder” code word was primarily for the benefit of the airborne troops? Since they were the most likely to become separated from their fellows, it would be important for them to determine friend from foe, obviously.
But was the average Joe storming the beaches given the same codeword? If so, what was the presumed intent (I would think most such soldiers would be able to pretty easily identify friend from foe at that point). Or where they expected to maybe run into scattered groups of airborne troops at some point?