Blitz and Pieces is a museum in Scratby in

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth (), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside town and unparished area in, and the main administrative centre of, the Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. A pop ...

, England, owned and operated by Darren Stride. Based on the British

Home Front Home front is an English language term with analogues in other languages. It is commonly used to describe the full participation of the British public in World War I who suffered Zeppelin raids and endured food rations as part of what came t ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

and the BBC comedy ''

Dad's Army ''Dad's Army'' is a British television sitcom about the United Kingdom's Home Guard during the Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, and originally broadcast on BBC1 from 31 July 1968 to 13 November 1977. It ran fo ...

'', the museum is housed in a 1940s prefabricated building, a 1930s wooden military hut and a variety of large

shed A shed is typically a simple, single-story roofed structure that is used for hobbies, or as a workshop in a back garden or on an allotment. Sheds vary considerably in their size and complexity of construction, from simple open-sided ones desi ...

s. In 2014 the museum was a finalist in

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

's ''

George Clarke's Amazing Spaces ''George Clarke's Amazing Spaces'' is a British television series that first aired on Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It beg ...

: Shed of the Year'' series. The museum is open to the public by appointment.

Origins of the museum

Stride's interest in the 1940s began as a small boy when he watched repeats of the BBC comedy ''

'' with his late grandfather, John Fenton, who had served as a private in the real Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment during

, the regiment that the

Home Guard Home guard is a title given to various military organizations at various times, with the implication of an emergency or reserve force raised for local defense. The term "home guard" was first officially used in the American Civil War, starting w ...

platoon in ''Dad's Army'' was based on. Before his death in 2001 he gave his grandson his service medals, which started the collection. Many of the items in the collection were donated by members of the public or by visitors to the museum. The display in the period chemist's shop was acquired from the Yesterday's World attraction in

following its closure in 2014.

Blitz Street

The museum is housed along 'Blitz Street', and is based on the British

during

; it features two period shops including a chemist's and a grocer's, a fully equipped 1940s kitchen and living room, an Anderson shelter complete with contents, a display of World War II uniforms, helmets and other artifacts, and a reconstruction of

Captain Mainwaring Captain George Mainwaring () is a fictional Home Guard captain, first portrayed by Arthur Lowe in the BBC television sitcom ''Dad's Army''. In the 2016 movie he is played by Toby Jones and in the 2019 remake of three missing episodes he is p ...

's church hall office from ''

''. Captain Mainwaring's office is housed in a 1930s

beach hut A beach hut (also known as a beach cabin, beach box or bathing box) is a small, usually wooden and often brightly coloured, box above the high tide mark on popular bathing beaches. They are generally used as a shelter from the sun or wind, chan ...

requisitioned by the military during World War II and features several authentic

uniforms, a screen-used uniform and

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from ''Dad's Army'', a collection of ''Dad's Army'' memorabilia including original props such as half of the string used during filming of

The Deadly Attachment "The Deadly Attachment" is the first episode of the sixth series of the British television sitcom ''Dad's Army''. It was originally transmitted on Wednesday 31 October 1973. It has become one of the best known episodes of the series due to the ra ...

. This was donated by David Croft; the other half is in the collection of

Jimmy Perry James Perry, (20 September 1923 – 23 October 2016)Simon Morgan-Russell, "Perry, James (Jimmy) (1923–2016)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, Jan 202available online Retrieved 25 August 2020. was an Engli ...

. In 2014 ''Blitz and Pieces'' was a finalist in Cuprinol's 'Shed of the Year' competition, broadcast by

.'A giant teapot and a mini pub: This year's amazing Shed of the Year nominees'
- ''

Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet ...

'' - 15 July 2014

Gallery

File:Blitz and Pieces Office 1.jpg, Corner of

's office File:Blitz and Pieces Grocer .JPG, Corner of the grocer's shop File:Blitz Street House.jpg, A view of the 1940s living room File:Blitz and Pieces Kitchen.jpg, A view of the 1940s kitchen File:Blitz Street Anderson.JPG, The Anderson shelter display

References

External links

''Blitz and Pieces'' Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blitz and Pieces Dad's Army Great Yarmouth Museums in Norfolk History museums in Norfolk Tourist attractions in Norfolk World War II museums in the United Kingdom