"Battle-weary"

[Jonathan Lighter]

OED has examples of the literal "battle-weary" (of persons) from 1905 and 1945, but no examples of the secondary sense, (of places and equipment) "damaged by battle."

An early example of this -  in the source that may have popularized it - appears in the song,   "There's a Girl in Chateau Thierry" (1919), "Sucessfully Introduced by Irene Bordoni and Lieut. Gitz Rice. Words by E. Ray Goetz. Music by Melville Gideon. New York, NY: Leo. Feist, Inc., Feist Building,"  stz. 1, ll. 1-4:

                       One September I’ll remember,
                       Never to forget.
                       Battle weary Chateau Thierry,
                       That was where we met.

All the lyrics and a midi are available at  http://pdmusic.org/1900s.html

Gitz Rice was a prominent Canadian performer songwriter of the period, often credited - erroneously, to judge from the lack of contemporary documentation - with co-authorship of "Mademoiselle from Armentieres."

"Battle-weary" was frequently used in WWII to describe aircraft, particularly bombers, that had suffered prolonged wear and tear in aerial combat.

JL


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