Visitors can “have a butchers” at Jones’s Dad’s Army van
Jack Jones' butchers van from Dads Army which has been bought by the Dads Army Museum in Thetford sits in the Charles Burrell Museum in the town. - Credit: Archant
It trundled around Walmington-on-Sea in many a comic moment – such as the time it was fitted out with guns to fend off the Germans.
And now the old butcher's van, driven in the series by L/Cpl Jones and now fully restored, has its rightful place in Thetford's Dad's Army Museum.
Hundreds of people took to the streets of Thetford to see the 1935 Ford box van driven from the town's Charles Burrell Steam Museum to the Dad's Army Museum, stopping at Jones's Butchers en route.
And now visitors can get a closer look inside and around the iconic vehicle.
Two Norfolk families, the Pearsons and the Jenkinses, benefactors of the Dad's Army Museum, bought the van at a Bonham's auction in December.
The museum has now raised £20,000 of the £63,100 needed to repay them.
Corinne Fulford, the museum's manager, said the van appealed to both fans of Dad's Army and vintage vehicles.
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She said: 'We cannot thank the Jenkinses and Pearsons enough for their kindness.
'We've already raised about £20,000, but need to raise £63,100 to repay our generous benefactors.
'We also need to raise ongoing funds to ensure she is maintained.'
Dad's Army ran for nine years from 1968 to 1977 and featured the exploits of a Home Guard platoon formed to protect the seaside village of Walmington-on-Sea from possible German attack during the second world war.
Capt Mainwaring and his platoon became TV comedy legends, its appeal reaching across the years to the current generation and some sketches are regularly voted among the best ever.
Much of the popular BBC comedy was filmed in Thetford and the surrounding area.
To help raise funds, contact Leaping Hare TIC on 01842 751975 or 07802 701911, email info@dadsarmythetford.org.uk or go to www.dadsarmythetford.org.uk
dominic.bareham2@archant.co.uk
