Blood chit

Etymology

Alternative names are escape and identification flags (Chinese: 人物證明書; pinyin: rénwù zhèngmíng shū). Chit (also 'chitty') is a British English term for a small document, note or pass; it is an Anglo-Indian word dating from the late 18th century, derived from the Hindi citthi.

History

The idea of blood chit originates from 1793 when French balloonist Jean-Pierre Blanchard demonstrated his hot air balloon in the United States. Because he could not control the direction of the balloon, no one knew where he would land. Because Blanchard did not speak English, George Washington gave him a letter that said that all U.S. citizens were obliged to assist him to return to Philadelphia.

In World War I, British Royal Flying Corps pilots in India and Mesopotamia carried a "goolie chit" printed in four local languages that promised a reward to anyone who would bring an unharmed British aviator back to British lines. The British officer John Masters recorded in his autobiography that Pathan women in the North-West Frontier Province (1901–1955) of British India (now modern day Pakistan) during the Anglo-Afghan Wars would behead and castrate non Muslim soldiers who were captured, like British and Sikhs.

In the Second Sino-Japanese War prior to World War II, foreign volunteer pilots of Flying Tigers carried notices printed in Chinese that informed the locals that this foreign pilot was fighting for China and they were obliged to help them. A text from one such blood chit translates as follows:

I am an American airman. My plane is destroyed. I cannot speak your language. I am an enemy of the Japanese. Please give me food and take me to the nearest Allied military post.

In fact, on the Flying Tigers chit from the China front, the text does not refer to either food or reward. This is a common misinterpretation that even the Smithsonian doesn't realize. On the UN chit from the Korean war, it is written in Japanese that cooperators will be rewarded and should help for his own 'benefit'.

United States Armed Forces

When the U.S. officially entered World War II in December 1941, flight crew survival kits included blood chits printed in 50 different languages that sported an American flag and promised a reward for a safe return of a pilot. The kit might also include gifts like gold coins, maps or sewing needles. Many U.S. flight crews that flew over Asia had their "blood chit" sewn to the back of their flight jackets. Some units added the blood chit to the crew's flight suits while other units gave the blood chit out only for specific flights. Currently, blood chits are a product of the Joint Personnel Recovery Agency. They are a small sheet of Tyvek material with an American flag and a statement in several languages indicating that the U.S. will reward anyone assisting the bearer to safety. They represent a written promise or obligation of the US Government.

While serving in the Global War on Terrorism, many U.S. service members were issued "blood chips" that looked similar to bearer bonds and guaranteed $500,000 for "aid and safe return". They were issued before missions for select ground, and convoy personnel, and placed inside a soldiers ballistic vest prior to missions.

British Armed Forces

Examples of blood chits issued to British RAF personnel in India in the 1940s are printed on thin sheets of silk cloth measuring 20 by 11½ inches (about 50 x 30 cm); they have the Union flag printed at the top left, and the following text in English and French alongside it:

The main area of the document is printed in three columns with the same text in 15 Asian languages, including Malay, Burmese, Tamil, Thai and Bengali.

Norwegian Armed Forces

Norwegian commandos (spesialjegere) had chits—during the current War in Afghanistan—"in silk, sown on the inside of the uniform belt.