Thank you, David! I've wanted one of these for years and accidentally came across one in a place where I wasn't looking! I'm planning on doing another video on the dissassembly, restoration, and reassembly of the siren.
My dad had one of these in his garage (he served in WWII) and when we were kids my friends and I used to crank on that thing. It had high and low notes, like a “siren”, not one steady note like this one
Nope, this one is very old. It was built between 1938 and 1944 and it's 100% hand cranked! No batteries required and it makes a heck of a lot of noise!
Yes, it is! While I am unsure of the manufacturer of my siren I've found it is identical to the clutchless Carter-Secomak sirens manufactured in the UK from 1938 through 1943 (possibly even later). But at the outset of the war in 1939 this would have been a very common model in use throughout the UK. The clutchless aspect of this siren was its flaw. The handle keeps spinning as long as the blower spins and if you try to slow it down with the handle you can easily shear off the pins holding the gears together. Thus you see me let go of it once I have it going.
