1944-1948 AD., Great Britain, British WWII forces in France, Token for use in NAAFI establishments and other service institutions, ½ Franc Canteen Token.

Great Britain, British WWII forces in France, Token for use in NAAFI establishments and other service institutions, 1944-1948 AD.,
½ Franc Canteen Token (ø 24-25 mm / 1,17 g), plasticised compressed paper (laminated card), octagonal shape (8-sided), axes coin alignment ↑↓ (180°), plain cut edge,
Obv.: ... NAAFI ONLY HALF FRANC TOKEN …. , legend printed numerously in small lettering (font 1.5mm high).
Rev.: ... NAAFI ONLY HALF FRANC TOKEN …. , legend printed numerously in small lettering (font 1.5mm high).
https://sites.google.com/site/malstokens/naafi - Type 3 .

A very small text on the first token series led to it quickly being replaced by this similar token with larger text.
De La Rue produced the NAAFI penny and halfpenny tokens that were issued in 1946 for use by the British military in conjunction with their British Armed Forces vouchers. They had previously made these half francs that were used in France and Belgium from 1944; they made four types of these of which this was the last and best. All are printed on both sides of CP3 material which was an insulation board used in radio equipment etc at that time.

The NAAFI
NAAFI personnel serving aboard ship are part of the Naval Canteen Service (NCS), wear naval uniform and have action stations, but remain civilians. NAAFI personnel can also join the Expeditionary Forces Institute (EFI), which provides NAAFI facilities in war zones.
Prior to 1914, each unit ran its own canteen, mostly contracted out to private firms. In Victorian times they had a reputation for being expensive, corrupt, unpleasant, and selling inferior goods. In 1894, three Army officers founded the Canteen and Mess Co-operative Society, which improved the situation immensely. It bought canteen goods in bulk and sold them on to the regimental canteens. During the First World War the Expeditionary Force Canteens were created for service overseas, run by uniformed members of the Army Service Corps and absorbing the Canteen and Mess Co-operative Society.
On 1st January, 1917, the Army Canteen Committee was created to take over canteens at home, later becoming the Navy and Army Canteen Board. In 1919 this also took over the Expeditionary Force Canteens. On 1st January, 1921, the Navy and Army Canteen Board formed the nucleus of the NAAFI.
The NAAFI's greatest contribution was during the Second World War. By April 1944 the NAAFI ran 7,000 canteens and had 96,000 personnel (expanded from fewer than 600 canteens and 4,000 personnel in 1939). It also controlled ENSA, the forces entertainment organisation. In the 1940 Battle of France alone, the EFI had nearly 3,000 personnel and 230 canteens.

Male EFI personnel were members of the Royal Army Service Corps until 1965, then the Royal Army Ordnance Corps. Since 1993 they have been members of the Royal Logistic Corps. Female personnel were members of the Auxiliary Territorial Service until 1949, then the Women's Royal Army Corps until 1992, when they joined the RAOC (and later the RLC).