25 Cents Thika Camp

Prisoner of war camp scrip issued under the East African Command during the Second World War, when Italian prisoners — largely captured during the East African Campaign of 1940–41 — were held at camps across Kenya. The D.A.P.S.S. designation refers to the Director of Army Prisoner of War Services and Supplies, the administrative body responsible for managing POW labor and internal camp economies across British East Africa.

Camp scrip of this type was deliberately unusable outside the wire, preventing currency from reaching the local civilian economy or funding escape attempts. Thika Camp No. 5 issues are among the scarcer of the Kenya series — locally produced on whatever paper was at hand, with no professional printer involved.