During WW2, the Germans started a large operation to print counterfeit 5 pound notes. The intent was to "bomb" them over England to bankrupt the currency.
But the end of the war overtook the operation, and the notes were dumped in the nearby river.
The locals fished the notes out and used them for TP. (The manufacture of TP was a casualty of priority war production.)
The BBC made a comedic miniseries about this, I forgot the name. All I remember is one of officers saying "if you don't do this, you'll be shot and then you'll be sorry!"
That officer will have been Major Neuheim, a blustering and venial SS bureaucrat played with panache by Ian Richardson (not unlike his role as Mr Warrenn in "Brazil"). I'm also puzzled how little-known the series has become, since I remember it fondly.
But the end of the war overtook the operation, and the notes were dumped in the nearby river.
The locals fished the notes out and used them for TP. (The manufacture of TP was a casualty of priority war production.)
"Money of Their Own" by Murray Bloom https://www.amazon.com/Money-Their-Own-Ingenious-Counterfeit...
The BBC made a comedic miniseries about this, I forgot the name. All I remember is one of officers saying "if you don't do this, you'll be shot and then you'll be sorry!"