QUERY: COUPONS USED BY POWS IN INDIA

I am a regular reader of The E-Sylum and enjoy every issue. I wanted to share below information with the group about Coupons used by PoWs in India:

It was during the Second World War that several POW camps were set up in India for German, Italian and Japanese POWs. These camps were first located in the inland and hilly tracks, but in towns which were sufficiently large to afford ease of communication. Such towns included Ahmednagar, Bangalore, Bhopal, Ramgarh (near Dehradun), Yol (in Garhwal), Delhi, Clemant town (in the Nilgiris). The central internment camp was situated at Ahmednagar. There is evidence to believe that coupons were issued by each "Wing" of the camp and were authorized by the Camp Commandment under the control of British Government.

To enable the prisoners of war to purchase daily necessities within the camp, it was necessary that they should be denied access to the circulating legal tender, lest they would save such money and use it for unwarranted activities. The best solution was to use coupons which carried value inside the camp but were useless outside.

As per as my understanding, International Red Cross was not involved in this at all.

I am not aware of any records of how many of these were issued. Also as you can see, they do not have SN also to deduce. But the total number of PoWs in India during WWII were about 100,000, so the number of coupons issued will be quite a small number. Also the coupons which are still available for collectors is very small in quantity and are quite rare.

I have also attached scans of a Short Snorter India PoW 1 Anna Bhopal Coupon from my collection.

On the back name "Bacchini Battista" and date of 21.10.1942 is written in pencil. The date may signify an entry or exit of this PoW from the Bhopal camp.

I think he must be from Italy. I have tried to identify him but without success. So, any help any group member can provide will be helpful.

Wayne Homren, Editor

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