There’s a whstle currently expiring on eBay. Even though its in Eb and I don’t mean to buy it, it bears remarkable similarities to a D whistle I purchased on eBay last month. And they’re not like anything else I’ve seen.
In both cases, the seller (not the same seller, btw) alleges the instrument to be French and military with no proof.
Have you run across anything like this?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2547440060&category=10183
To me, it may be made in France, but it’s a whistle, judging from its mouthpiece and fingering, i.e. not a Flageolet–whether English or French.
Military? This takes documents. French army had fifes, like most others… Some Edgar Manet drew a sketch of one 
Intriguingly, the pitch is indicated according to three separate systems, French, British and German. And that was before your favourite European Commission introduced standard rules about the labelling of six-hole bananas and cucumbers. Or NATO introduced standard calibres for whistles of mass destruction.
Ayup! That’s why I put the word in quotes. These things (mine is in D and apparently marked only in French terminology) intrigue me because they represent so much more effort than what I would consider common elsewhere at the time, i.e. cylindrical tubes with lead plugs and rolled conical tubes with wood plugs. These things start with a rolled conical tin tube which has not only had the holes stamped but also the various markings stamped from the back side to create a raised relief marking on the finished whistle. After stamping and rolling the tube was very heavily soldered. Then the head, which had been castt as a separate piece from a different metal, was soldered in place. They’re also a bit odd in shape, with the tube at the fipple end being flarrened into an oval but being round at the bell end.
I’ve only seen that separate cast head thing one other time on a cheap cylindrical souvenir whistle that starteed life in Sioux Falls, Iowa and that I found in an auction a couple of years ago.
As I noted before, I have no idea where the military thing came from, but they are heavier and sturdier than anything else from their presumed time period, i.e. the beginning of the Twentieth Century and certainly represent a lot more effort in their production.
I think we know who bought it, too.
Vive Le France!
Looks like a Flageolet with the top bit missing 