Blighty bag

English

Etymology

From Blighty one (“a wound that gets one sent away from the front to hospital”).

Noun

Blighty bag (plural Blighty bags)

1. (military slang) A small bag that holds a wounded soldier's personal effects and accompanies him to hospital.
   • 1991, Dorothy Schneider, Carl J. Schneider, Into the breach: American women overseas in World War I, page 298:

     Carrie May Hall: "Tell the women to make 'Blighty' bags!

   • 2005, John Warner, Emperor of the East Slope, →ISBN, page 84:

     Two lightly wounded men, detailed to help, took his belongings and put them in a 'Blighty bag,' carefully marking his name, rank, serial number, and unit.

   • 2018, Susanna de Vries, Australian Heroines of World War One, →ISBN:

     Their treasures are put in little bags, ′Blighty bags′, the boys call them.