Catalog
10 Cents Thika Camp
| Issuer | P.O.W. Camp No. 5, Thika (British East Africa) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1941 |
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| Reference(s) | Camb#5463 |
| Obverse description | Printed in black and green on plain paper, the obverse carries a central green rectangular vignette with the numeral "10" in large white figures. Black letterpress text reads "P.O.W. CAMP / No. 5 / THIKA" within the vignette. The vertical side margins bear the printed legend "D.A.P.S.S. – 1941" along both left and right edges. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 10 CENTS P.O.W. CAMP No. 5 THIKA D.A.P.S.S. - 1941 |
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| Comments |
POW Camp No. 5 at Thika, Kenya held Italian prisoners captured during the East African campaign — primarily from the fall of Italian Somaliland and Abyssinia in 1941. Camp scrip of this type was issued to allow prisoners to make canteen purchases without handling official currency, a standard British military practice that also prevented currency from being accumulated and used in escape attempts.
Locally printed in Kenya rather than produced by an established security printer, the physical quality is accordingly rough. The Cambridge reference confirms authenticity but surviving examples are genuinely rare — camp populations fluctuated and most scrip was demonetized and pulped at the war's end.