8 Annas 468th Bombardment Group

The 468th Bombardment Group operated B-29 Superfortresses out of Kharagpur, India, as part of XX Bomber Command's early strategic campaign against Japanese-held targets in Southeast Asia and the Japanese home islands. Like several other very heavy bombardment groups stationed in the CBI theater, the 468th issued its own scrip for use at the base canteen or club — a practical workaround given the difficulties of supplying U.S. currency to remote forward bases in Bengal.

Military scrip of this type was never legal tender and had no backing beyond the issuing unit's authority. The 8 Annas denomination is telling: denominating in Indian currency units rather than cents reflects the local economic reality these men lived in daily.