Having a butchers at Corporal Jones' van

It played its part in the wonderful Dad’s Army TV series, and is still delighting die-hard fans of the show. Let’s Talk’s motoring writer David Clayton takes a look at the iconic van.

- David Clayton

There are many memorable scenes from Dad’s Army but one of my favourites, and it could be yours too, is when the Walmington-on-Sea platoon is practicing a manoeuvre using Corporal Jones’ butcher’s van.

Through portholes cut into the side of the vehicle, they poke their rifles out to threaten the imaginary enemy, shouting in unison, “Open two-three. Out-two-three. Bang two-three. Bang-two-three. Bang two-three. In-two-three. Shut!” It’s still funny just reading it!

The van is real. It still exists and thankfully belongs to the Dad’s Army Museum at Thetford, but I’ve just been up close and personal with it at David Wall’s garage, near Wroxham. It has been undergoing some important restoration work.

Stuart Wright is the chairman of the Dad’s Army Museum and told me something of the van’s history. He says a BBC props man spotted it in a London back street in 1969 and could see its potential for the TV series. It was about to be scrapped but lived again on TV, appearing many times as the platoon’s usual form of transport.

The last Dad’s Army programmes were made in 1977 and, after its starring role, the van found its way to a motor museum in the Birmingham area. Eventually, the exhibits were sold, and the Thetford museum got wind of the fact it was coming up for auction at Bonhams with a guide price of £20,000 to £30,000. It was a fortune for the small museum founded in 2007, but they went about trying to find the money and fortunately, two Thetford families bankrolled the purchase, allowing the museum to pay them back when they could.