The Dad's Army Museum is a museum located in Cage Lane in

Thetford Thetford is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Breckland District of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road (England), A11 road between Norwich and London, just east of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, coverin ...

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

, England, dedicated to the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

comedy series ''

Dad's Army ''Dad's Army'' is a British television British sitcom, sitcom about the United Kingdom's Home Guard (United Kingdom), Home Guard during the World War II, Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft (TV producer), David Crof ...

''. Many of the outdoor locations were filmed in the local area. The museum is housed in the old fire station at the rear of Thetford Guildhall, which itself stood in for

Walmington-on-Sea Walmington-on-Sea is a fictional seaside resort that is the setting of ''Dad's Army'' during the Second World War, including the BBC Television sitcom (1968-1977), the BBC Radio 4 series and two feature films (1971 and 2016). Walmington-on-Sea i ...

Town Hall in several of the episodes. It is run by volunteers who, throughout the year, attend many 1940s events in East Anglia with Jones' Van.

History

Thetford Guildhall, where the museum is based, featured in the 1972 episode " Time On My Hands", in which a German

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

pilot dangled from the clock tower when his parachute became caught in the clock's hands. The Guildhall was also used in a 1974 episode, " The Captain's Car". The Dad's Army Museum was opened by ''Dad's Army'' co-writer David Croft on Friday, 7 December 2007, and includes a reconstruction of Captain Mainwaring's church hall office, several display areas, a shop and the Marigold Tea Room. The museum displays many unique photographs (many from the collection of the Dad's Army Appreciation Society) along with other memorabilia and items connected with the series. Uniforms on display include a replica of the red, be-medalled full dress uniform worn by Lance-Corporal Jones in the series, and others worn by 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 ...

Jones' van

In December 2012, the museum bought the original Ford BB van used as Jones' butcher's van in the series for £63,100, including the premium. Because of limited space in the Dad's Army Museum, the van went on display at the nearby Charles Burrell Museum in March 2013 following a period of restoration.'Visitors can "have a butchers" at Jones's Dad's Army van'
- ''

Norwich Evening News The ''Norwich Evening News'' is a daily local newspaper published in Norwich, Norfolk, England. It covers the city and the surrounding suburbs, and is published by Archant. It is the best-selling newspaper in Norwich. As of 28 February 2011 the ...

'' - 3 April 2013

Gallery

File:Dads Army Museum 1.jpg, The Exhibition Hall File:Dads Army Museum 2.JPG, Captain Mainwaring's office File:Dads Army Museum 3.jpg, Lance-Corporal Jones' medals and tunic

References

External links

Dad's Army Museum in Thetford website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dad's Army Museum 2007 establishments in England Dad's Army Museums in Norfolk History museums in Norfolk Tourist attractions in Norfolk World War II museums in the United Kingdom Thetford