Original British WWII RAF and SOE (Special Operations Executive) 17 Language Blood Chit- 2nd Style – First Type Featured in Book Last Hope Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. This very blood chit is featured on page 101 of the excellent book Last Hope: The Blood Chit Story by Thomas Wm. McGarry and R.E. Baldwin (title page is signed by R.E. Baldwin). It is a Rare and beautiful WWII RAF Royal Air Force & SOE (Special Operations Executive), 17 language Blood Chit for operations in the Pacific / Asia Theater. This example is a 2nd style, First Type. The top of the blood chit shows a British flag and to the viewer’s right it reads: “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.” The other languages featured on the chit are French, Annamite, Malay, Jawi, Haka, Sumatra, Thai, Kachin, Tamil, W. Shan, Laizo, Karen, E. Shan and N. Thai, Burmese, Chinese, and Bengali.

Printed silk and measures approximately 11-7/8″ x 20-3/8″ and is offered in excellent condition.

A blood chit 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.

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. You will be rewarded.

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.