I don't think any of us realized at the time that the British currency was under such severe strain. The government could not afford to pay their military personel in local currencies and instead opted for an equivalent in the form of these service vouchers. This weekly Toy-Town money in lieu of real pay and salary could be spent in a variety of places, the NAAFI canteen, the NAAFI Corporals' Mess, the NAAFI Privates' Mess, the NAAFI gift shop, the NAAFI bar, The Church of Scotland canteen and of course the Globe Cinema. It was ostensibly a crime (See notice on the reverse.) to attempt to pay local traders with it. There is a story that the NAAFI at one time tried to convince UK Gov't not to process the vouchers for the Church of Scotland, in an effort to consolidate their monopoly. I seem to remember that the NAAFI would not accept stirling notes (pounds) but the C.o.S. would, although at the time it was illegal to export British currency, so we couldn't get any from home anyway. Many thanks to Mike Powell for this copy.

Front Reverse