Goolie chit

 

Goolie chit

 Korean War (1950-1953) blood chit for UN pilots in English, Korean, Chinese and Japanese

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

‘Have I told you about my goolie chit?’ was Barry’s cheery remark to me the other day.

Chit is British slang for a note and goolie originates from the Hindustani word ‘goli’ which means marble or bullet. It was adopted by the British as a slang term for testicle.

A goolie chit, formerly, or even formally, known as a blood chit, was a document issued to service personnel. Goolie chits were first used by RAF air crew in 1917, and thereafter extensively throughout the rest of the First World War and in later conflicts. It was used as a means of protecting the bearer’s most prized and personal items.

 Addressed in several languages to civilians in a battle zone, a goolie chit identified the bearer as an Allied fighter, there to protect the local populace and overthrow enemies. It promised a monetary reward for the safe return of crashed airmen.

RAF goolie chit issued during the Gulf War, 1991
Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Its history goes back further. Although it was not then called a blood chit, George Washington created the first one in 1793 for Jean-Pierre Blanchard. Blanchard was a French man who was visiting Philadelphia to exhibit his hot air balloon. As he could speak no English and had no way of directing where he would land, Washington gave him a letter guaranteeing his safety wherever he touched down.

During the Gulf War, RAF crew were issued with chits accompanied by gold sovereigns, as an incentive to civilians who discovered them to return them to their embassy or headquarters. SAS soldiers were also issued with goolie chits and told that the sovereigns must be returned unless they could justify their use.

In 1968, Barry joined the Great Abbai Expedition, led by John Blashford-Snell. (Barry prepared for his role by testing ground to air communication with an aircraft circling over our house at night.) The purpose of the expedition was to traverse and chart the entire length of the Blue Nile. This had never been achieved and vast swathes of the area had not yet been mapped.

There were fierce bands of warring tribesmen, or shiftas, in the bush, some as many as a few thousand strong, who had never seen white men and in some cases were disinclined to be friendly. They earned their living as bandits, stealing from people, and would have liked to acquire the arms and particularly the radios the men carried.

Castration of enemies was a traditional practice in Ethiopia, so the expedition members were careful to try and avoid the aggressive shiftas, though they did have a number of fire fights with them. By contrast, the friendly villages were incredibly welcoming and hospitable and shared their meagre rations. In return, the medics in the team did what they could to treat illness and injury. An aspirin was seen as a miracle cure!

The goolie chit the men carried declared them to be ‘Honoured guests of Emperor Haile Selassie.’ It was written in English and Amharic. The tribes could not read but were overjoyed to hear that the Emperor, the ‘Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah,’ was still alive. He was greatly revered by his people, but they had been told he was dead, and a foreign impostor imposed in his place. The fact that the men had met and spoken to Haile Selassie in his palace gave the expedition members added status.

It’s not really surprising that Barry’s thoughts have been concentrated on his nether regions recently. In the course of five weeks, he has had a colonography, a colonoscopy, a prostatectomy and an assortment of scans, ultrasounds, x-rays, and endless blood tests. He is on the home strait now and recovering well . . . touch wood.