Whistle, ACME Siren (England)

Whistle, ACME Siren (England) - image1Whistles were mainly used by the army for signaling, in particular the infantry, artillery and cavalry units combined into ‘columns’ where signaling was essential.

Dimensions: It is approx. 80mm long, 17mm wide and made from aged nickel plated brass.

History: The British army was among the first to use whistles on the 1WW front and in the trenches. They were provided to higher ranking officers and had a leather lanyard or strap which was used to keep the whistle from being lost during battle. The initial trench whistle was an average size of 3.15” long and 2/3”in diameter.

Use: The whistles were used to coordinate movements across companies. Commands for coordinated movements could be relayed down the trenches with greater efficiency. With the din of battle overpowering vocal commands, a sharp trill from the whistles was a better option.

Trench whistles provided a sound that would otherwise not be found at the front. To better communicate, a series of trench commands were created. The one that was used most often was to signal going “over the top” of a trench in an attack. Whistles were also used to alert artillerymen that their guns were about to fire so they could avoid injury from the recoil.

While the British military was the first to use whistles in the 1WW trenches, whistle use soon spread to the Commonwealth regiments fighting alongside the British, such as Canadian and South African regiments.

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