Pay attention everybody: You may be able to help a Warwick museum find out more about a piece of Second World War ingenuity of which Captain Mainwaring would have been proud.
Staff at the St John's House Museum in Warwick are trying to discover what happened to this home-made armoured car, which was the pride of the local Home Guard units in the early days of the conflict.
The photograph, which was taken in 1940, recently came to light and was printed in The Antelope, a magazine produced principally for former members of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, to which Warwickshire Home Guard was badged.
The picture dates from the early days of the Home Guard, when the fledgling organisation was known as the Local Defence Volunteers. Uniforms had yet to be issued; members are only identifiable by their LDV armbands.
The unit commander is believed to have been the vicar of Marton, the Rev A Wilbraham. Wearing a straw hat and clutching a World War One-issue SMLE rifle, he is surrounded by the other 11 members of the unit - and a dog - all looking determined to do their best against the feared Nazi invasion.
Investigations by the magazine revealed the vehicle was built by Coun Sam Myers on the chassis of a lorry donated by a Coventry garage. When the Home Guard received the order to 'stand down' in November 1944 the armoured car disappeared.
Major Richard Mills, curator of the St John's House Museum, said: "It epitomises the spirit of the Home Guard in the dark days of 1940.
"Such things as a home-made armoured car gave birth to the delightful and enduring stories of Dad's Army.
"We would dearly love to know what happened to the vehicle. One hopes it might have been preserved in some way and could be restored.
"Although we could not accommodate it in the St John's House Museum, we could certainly find it a home where it could be displayed as a unique part of Warwickshire Home Guard and its regimental associations."
The original photograph was published in the Midland Daily (now Coventry Evening) Telegraph, but lost during the Blitz. An Association member discovered a badly-damaged leaflet including the picture, which was restored to something approaching its former glory.
Anyone with any information about what happened to the armoured car should contact Major Mills on 491653.
