Editing Blood chit

{{Short description|Document requesting safe passage and assistance for military personnel stranded in enemy territory}}
[[File:Flying Tigers blood chit from ROC National Government, provided courtesy of Robert Baldwin.jpg|thumb|A "blood chit" issued to the American Volunteer Group ''[[Flying Tigers]]''. The Chinese characters read: "This foreigner has come to China to help in the war effort. Soldiers and civilians, one and all, should rescue and protect him". (R.E. Baldwin Collection)]]

[[File:Korean war blood chit.jpg|thumb|A blood chit used by UN pilots during the [[Korean War]]. ([[Australian War Memorial]])<br><br>The text (in [[Chinese language|Chinese]], [[Korean language|Korean]], [[Japanese language|Japanese]], and [[English language|English]]) says:<blockquote>I am an American (UNITED NATIONS) pilot. My plane has been shot down and I am helpless, but I want to get back and fight again for the peace of the world and your country.</blockquote><blockquote>If you will help me and yourselves by getting me to the nearest American unit, my Government will reward you. Help me and we will help you.</blockquote>]]

A '''blood chit''' ({{lang-zh|c=血幅|p=xuè fú}}) is a notice carried by military personnel and addressed to any civilians who may come across an armed-services member – such as a shot-down pilot – in difficulties. As well as identifying the force to which the bearer belongs as friendly, the notice displays a message requesting that the service member be rendered every assistance.<ref>The Handbook Of The SAS And Elite Forces. How The Professionals Fight And Win. Edited by Jon E. Lewis. p.166-Tactics And Techniques, Evasion, Capture And Escape. Robinson Publishing Ltd 1997. ISBN 1-85487-675-9</ref>

==Etymology==
{{Wiktionary}}
Alternative names are '''escape flag''' and '''identification flag''' ({{lang-zh|t=人物證明書|p=rénwù zhèngmíng shū}}). "Chit" is a British English term for a small document, note or pass, representing a debt to be paid; it is an Anglo-Indian word dating from the late 18th century, derived from [[Hindi]] ''citthi''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Chit source|url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/chit|access-date=22 February 2012}}</ref>

==History==
The first blood chit may have been made in 1793 when French [[balloon]]ist [[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 language|English]], [[George Washington]], according to legend, gave him a letter that said that all U.S. [[citizen]]s were obliged to assist him to return to [[Philadelphia]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nj.com/gloucester-county/towns/index.ssf/2010/01/jean-pierre_blanchards_balloon.html |title=Jean-Pierre Blanchard's balloon landing, a major part of Deptford's history, turns 217 |author=Kelly Roncace |date=January 5, 2010 |work=Gloucester County Times |accessdate=April 29, 2017}}{{cite web |url=https://postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibition/about-philately-covers-and-letters-air-and-space-airplane-mail/pioneer-period-1783-1918 |title=Pioneer Period (1783-1918) |author=Stephen Reinhard |date= |publisher=Smithsonian National Postal Museum |accessdate=April 29, 2017}}{{cite web |url=https://info.mysticstamp.com/first-flown-letter-in-america_tdih/ |title=First Flown Letter in America |publisher=Mystic Stamp Company |accessdate=May 26, 2025}}{{cite web |url=http://smithsonianapa.org/recollections/flying-tigers/ |title=The Flying Tigers, America's secret army in Burma |publisher=Smithsonian Asia Pacific America Center |access-date=June 6, 2019}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite book|title=Bugles and a Tiger|author=John Masters|date=June 13, 2002|publisher=Cassell Military (June 13, 2002)|isbn=0-304-36156-9|page=190}}</ref>

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 [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|China]] and they were obliged to help them.<ref>{{cite web|last=Rossi |first=Dick |url=http://www.flyingtigersavg.22web.org/tiger2.htm |title=A Flying Tigers Story |date=1980s |work=The Flying Tigers - American Volunteer Group - Chinese Air Force}}</ref> A text from one such blood chit translates as follows:

<blockquote>
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.
You will be rewarded.</blockquote>

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 [[Flag of the United States|American flag]] and promised a reward for a safe return of a pilot.<ref name=af1957rpt>{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/afhra-reel-k1023/page/n265/mode/2up |title=History and Operational Use of Blood Chits, WWII and Korea |pages=266–274 |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=June 1957 |publisher=[[Air Force Historical Research Agency]]}}</ref> The kit might also include gifts like [[gold]] coins, [[map]]s or [[sewing needle]]s. Many U.S. flight crews that flew over [[Asia]] had their "blood chit" sewn to the back of their [[flight jacket]]s. Some units added the blood chit to the crew's [[flight suit]]s while other units gave the blood chit out only for specific flights. Currently, blood chits are a product of the [[Joint Personnel Recovery Agency]]. These recent government-issue items are a small sheet of [[Tyvek]] material <ref>{{cite web|title=JPRA website|url=https://www.jpra.mil/|access-date=17 October 2020}}</ref> with an American flag and a statement in several languages indicating that the U.S. will reward anyone assisting the bearer to safety. They constitute a written promise of the US Government. Retired [[General (United States)|General]] [[Norman Schwarzkopf Jr.|Norman Schwarzkopf]] recounted that the CENTCOM Judge Advocate General during the [[Gulf War]] forward his approval for US pilots to carry such a chit.<ref>{{cite book |last=Schwarzkopf |first=Norman |author-link= |date=1992 |title=t Doesn't Take a Hero  |url=https://archive.org/details/itdoesnttakehe00schw/page/408/mode/2up?q=chit |location= |publisher=Linda Grey Bantam Books |page=409 |isbn=}}</ref>

===British Armed Forces===
[[File:RAF Blood Chit 1991.jpg|thumb|Blood chit issued to RAF Aircrew during the Gulf War 1991]]
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&nbsp;cm);  they have the Union flag printed at the top left, and the following text in English and French alongside it:

{{quote|<poem>Dear Friend,
I am an Allied fighter. I did not come here to do any harm to you who are my friends.  I only want to do harm to the Japanese and chase them away from this country as quickly as possible.
If you will assist me, my Government will sufficiently reward you when the Japanese are driven away.</poem>}}

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.

Such blood chits or goolie chits were issued to Royal Air Force pilots during the [[Gulf War]]. It identifies the bearer as friendly and is issued with gold sovereigns as an incentive.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.raf.mod.uk/what-we-do/centre-for-air-and-space-power-studies/documents1/air-power-review-vol-19-no-2-first-gulf-war-25th-anniversary-special/ |title=Reality of War Tornado GR1 JP233 Delivery (17 Jan 1991) 'Cluck cluck... Gibber, gibber… My old man... Sa mushroom' An Airman's Perspective on the Reality of War |last=Walters |first=Andy |date=1 July 2016 |website=raf.mod.uk |publisher=Royal Air Force |access-date=13 March 2022 |quote=A goolie chit was originally known as a blood chit. It is a notice carried by military personnel and addressed to any civilians who may come across an armed-services member – such as a shot-down pilot – in difficulties. As well as identifying the force to which the bearer belongs as friendly, the notice displays a message requesting that the service member be rendered every assistance. The gold sovereigns were intended as an added ’incentive’ to anyone assisting the aircrew.}}</ref> [[Peter Ratcliffe]] recounted that it was issued to [[Special Air Service]] troopers prior to deployment. The gold sovereigns had to be returned unless troopers could prove they were legitimately used.<ref>{{cite book |last=Ratcliffe |first=Peter |author-link= |date=1 July 2003 |title=Eye of the Storm: Twenty-five Years in Action with the SAS |url= |location= |publisher=Michael O'Mara; New Ed edition |page=244 |isbn=978-1843170525}}</ref> [[Peter de la Billière]] also recounted that all RAF aircrew were issued with "£800 in gold, to facilitate escape in case of trouble, and also a chit written in Arabic which promised that Her Majesty’s Government would pay the sum of £5000 to anyone who returned an airman intact to the Allies."<ref>{{cite book |last=de la Billière |first=Peter |author-link= |date= 1992|title=Storm command : a personal account of the Gulf War |url=https://archive.org/details/stormcommandpers00dela |location= |publisher=HarperCollins |page=204 |isbn=978-0006387497}}</ref> Former [[Special Air Service]] Sergeant [[Chris Ryan]] also received the same type of chit and gave it to a Syrian driver during his escape from Iraq.<ref>{{cite book |last=Ryan |first=Chris |author-link= |date=2010 |title=The one that got away |url=https://archive.org/details/onethatgotaway0000ryan_k7e8/page/216/mode/2up?q=english |location= |publisher=London: Red Fox |page=216 |isbn=9781849413466}}</ref>

=== Americans during the Cold War ===
During the [[Cold War]], Americans flying reconnaissance over [[Eastern Bloc]] countries would be given blood chits in those various languages (e.g. [[Polish language|Polish]], [[Czech language|Czech]], and [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]]) The chits read:

<blockquote>I am an American. I do not speak your language. I need food, shelter and assistance. I will not harm you; I have no malice toward your people. If you help me, my government will reward you.</blockquote>

===Norwegian Armed Forces===
Norwegian [[commando]]s (''[[spesialjeger]]e'') had chits—during the [[War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)|War in Afghanistan]]—in silk, sewn on the inside of the uniform belt.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vg.no/i/9R49q|title=Satte løsepenger på norske spesialsoldater|website=www.vg.no|date=16 September 2013 }}</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* {{cite web|last=Rossi |first=J.R. |url=http://www.flyingtigersavg.22web.org/ |title=AVG American Volunteer Group - Flying Tigers }}

==External links==
{{commonscat|Blood chits}}
* [http://www.warbirdforum.com/bloodchi.htm The Flying Tigers blood chit]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060105042736/http://cbi-theater-4.home.comcast.net/bloodchit/ Blood Chits of the CBI Theater]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20161019043835/http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/300201p.pdf Personnel Recovery in the Department of Defense]
* [https://www.cia.gov/legacy/museum/artifact/blood-chit/ Photo of US Afghanistan Blood Chitct]
* {{cite web|last1=Chivers|first1=C.J.|title=A Short History of Blood Chits: Greetings From the Lost, Seeking Help|url=http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/29/a-short-history-of-blood-chits-greetings-from-the-lost-seeking-help/?_r=0|website=The New York Times|date=29 March 2012|access-date=12 September 2016}}

[[Category:Military personal equipment]]
[[Category:Military aviation]]