Sir Percy Cleghorn Stanley Hobart
Percy Hobart, Armoured Warfare Specialist and Military Engineer.
Born
June 14, 1885;
Died
19 February 1957;

Major-General Sir Percy Cleghorn Stanley Hobart (14 June 1885-19 February 1957) was a British military engineer and commander of the 79th Armoured Division during World War II. He was responsible for many of the specialised armoured vehicles ('Hobart's Funnies') that took part in the invasion of Normandy. Image File history File links Percy_hobart. ... June 14 is the 165th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (166th in leap years), with 200 days remaining. ... 1885 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... February 19 is the 50th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... June 14 is the 165th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (166th in leap years), with 200 days remaining. ... 1885 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... February 19 is the 50th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A military engineer is primarily responsible for the design and construction of offensive and defensive structures for warfare. ... The 79th (Experimental) Armoured Division, Royal Engineers was a British Army armoured unit formed as part of the preparations for the Normandy invasion of 6 June 1944. ... Combatants Allied Powers Axis Powers Commanders {{{commander1}}} {{{commander2}}} Strength {{{strength1}}} {{{strength2}}} Casualties 17 million military deaths 7 million military deaths World War II, also known as the Second World War (sometimes WW2 or WWII), was a mid-20th century conflict that engulfed much of the globe and is accepted as... Badge of the 79th Armoured Division Amphibious DD tanks await blowing of breaches in sea wall on Utah Beach. ... Combatants Allied Powers Nazi Germany Commanders Dwight D. Eisenhower (Supreme Allied Commander) Bernard Montgomery (land) Bertram Ramsay (sea) Trafford Leigh-Mallory (air) Gerd von Rundstedt (OB WEST) Erwin Rommel (Heeresgruppe B) Strength 326,000 (by June 11)  ? Casualties 53,700 dead, 18,000 missing, 155,000 wounded about 200,000...

Early life

In his youth Hobart studied history, painting, literature and church architecture. In 1904 he graduated from the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich and was commissioned into the Corps of Royal Engineers. First he was sent to India but during World War I he was sent to France and then to Mesopotamia (now Iraq). 1904 (MCMIV) is a leap year starting on a Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Royal Military Academy was founded in 1741 in Woolwich, south-east London. ... Woolwich (pronounced Woolitch) is a town in south-east London, England in the London Borough of Greenwich, on the south side of the River Thames, though the tiny exclave of North Woolwich (which is now part of the London Borough of Newham) is on the north side of the river. ... The Corps of Royal Engineers (RE), commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army. ... Combatants Entente Powers Central Powers Commanders {{{commander1}}} {{{commander2}}} Strength {{{strength1}}} {{{strength2}}} Casualties > 5 million military deaths > 3 million military deaths World War I, also known as the First World War and (before 1939) the Great War, the War of the Nations, War to End All Wars was a world conflict... Sumerian list of gods in cuneiform script, ca. ...

In the early 1920s Hobart was transferred to the Royal Tank Corps. He was greatly influenced by the writings of B. H. Liddell Hart on armoured warfare. He also gained nickname "Hobo". In 1934 he became Brigadier of the first permanent armoured brigade in Britain. He still had to fight for resources for his command because the British Army was still dominated by conservative cavalry officers. When he was sent to form an armoured unit in Egypt in 1938, a local general resisted his efforts. He did his best to form the 7th Armoured Division, later to become known as the famous Desert Rats during the war. Sometimes referred to as the Jazz Age or primarily in North America and in Australia as the Roaring Twenties . In Europe it is sometimes refered to as the Golden Twenties. ... The Royal Tank Regiment is a unit of the British Army (formerly the Tank Corps and Royal Tank Corps). ... Basil Henry Liddell Hart (October 31, 1895 _ January 29, 1970) was a military historian and is considered among the great military strategists of the 20th century. ... 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Brigadier is a rank in the British Army, Royal Marines, Australian Army, New Zealand Army, and several other armies, ranking above Colonel and immediately below Major-General. ... The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. ... Italian cavalry officers practice their horsemanship in 1904 outside Rome. ... 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... The 7th Armoured Division (known as the Desert Rats) of the British Army was the most famous unit of its type in British service during World War II. It was a regular division in the Middle East, designated the Mobile Division at first, renamed the Armoured Division (Egypt) in September... The 7th Armoured Division (The Desert Rats) of the British Army was the most famous unit of its type in British service during World War II. It was a regular division in the Middle East, designated the Mobile Division at first, renamed the Armoured Division (Egypt) in September 1939, and...

World War II

After the outbreak of World War II in 1939, Sir Archibald Wavell dismissed Hobart into retirement, based on hostile War Office information due to his "unconventional" ideas about armoured warfare. Hobart joined the Home Guard as a corporal. Liddell Hart criticised the decision to Wavell and wrote an article in the Sunday Pictorial newspaper. Winston Churchill was notified and he had Hobart re-enlisted into the army as a Major-General. Hobart was assigned to train the 11th Armoured Division, intended for North Africa. His opponents tried to have him dismissed again on medical grounds but Churchill rebuffed them. 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... Archibald Percival Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell (May 5, 1883 _ May 24, 1950) was a British General and the commander of British Army forces in the Middle East during World War II. He led British forces to victory over the Italians, only to be defeated by the German army. ... Old War Office Building, Whitehall, London - the former location of the War Office The War Office was a former department of the British Government, responsible for the administration of the British Army between the 17th century and 1963, when its functions were transferred to the Ministry of Defence. ... Armoured warfare in modern warfare is understood to be the use of armoured fighting vehicles as a central component of the methods of war. ... The Local Defence Volunteers (LDV) or Home Guard, was instituted by the British government during World War II to defend the UK in the event of an invasion by Germany. ... Corporal is a military rank (equivalent to NATO Rank Code OR-4) in use by several militaries of the world. ... The Right Honourable Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British politician, best known as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. ... Major General is a military rank used in many countries. ... British 11th Armoured Division: The Black Bull. ... North Africa is a region generally considered to include: Algeria Egypt Libya Mauritania Morocco Sudan Tunisia Western Sahara The Azores, Canary Islands, and Madeira are sometimes considered to be a part of North Africa. ...

The Dieppe raid in 1942 had demonstrated the inability of tanks and infantry to cope with fortified obstacles in an amphibious landing. There would be a requirement for specialist vehicles to aid any landing when it came for the Aliies to invade Europe. Dieppes pebble beach and cliff immediately following the raid on 19 August 1942. ... This article is about the year. ... Infantry of the Royal Irish Rifles during the Battle of the Somme, First World War. ... Landing ship Rapière Amphibious warfare is the assault of an objective located on land by a force attacking from ships. ... World map showing Europe Europe is conventionally considered one of the seven continents which, in this case, is more a cultural and political distinction than a physiogeographic one. ...

Maj-Gen Sir Percy Hobart (left) with General B. L. Montgomery (right)

In March 1943 Chief of the Imperial General Staff, Field Marshal Sir Alan Brooke assigned Hobart to form a unit handling of specialised armour. Hobart was reputedly suspicious at first and conferred with Liddell Hart before he accepted. The unit was named the 79th (Experimental) Armoured Division Royal Engineers. Unit insignia was a black bull's head with flaring nostrils superimposed over a yellow triangle; this was carried proudly on every vehicle. Later in the same year Hobart was knighted. His brother-in-law Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery informed Dwight D. Eisenhower of his needs to build unusual tank designs. ImageMetadata File history File links Maj-Gen_Percy_Hobart_With_Gen_BL_Montgomery. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Maj-Gen_Percy_Hobart_With_Gen_BL_Montgomery. ... 1943 (MCMXLIII) is a common year starting on Friday. ... Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS) was the title of the professional head of the British Army from 1908 to 1964. ... Note: This article is about the military usage of the word marshal. For other usages, see the end of this article. ... Statue of Field Marshal The Viscount Alanbrooke, MoD Building, Whitehall, London Field Marshal Alan Francis Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke, KG, GCB, OM, GCVO, DSO (July 23, 1883 - June 17, 1963) was a British Field Marshal during World War II. He also served as Lord High Constable during the coronation of... Note: This article is about the military usage of the word marshal. For other usages, see the end of this article. ... Bernard Law Montgomery Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein (November 17, 1887 - March 24, 1976) was a British military officer during World War II often referred to as Monty. ... Dwight David Ike Eisenhower (October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American soldier and politician. ...

Under Hobart's leadership, the 79th assembled units of modified tank designs that were collectively nicknamed "Hobart's Funnies". These were used in the Normandy invasion and were credited with helping the Allies get ashore. The vehicles of the 79th had been offered to all of the forces taking part in the landings of Operation Overlord, but the American forces declined all except the amphibious Sherman DD tank. Badge of the 79th Armoured Division Amphibious DD tanks await blowing of breaches in sea wall on Utah Beach. ... The DD Tank is commonly used to refer to amphibious tanks used in the Battle of Normandy, they were predominately American M4 Sherman medium tanks adapted to allow them to travel on water and land. ...

The vehicles of the 79th did not deploy as units together but were attached to other units. By the end of the war the 79th had almost 7000 vehicles.

The 79th Armoured Division was disbanded on August 20, 1945. Hobart was knighted by King George VI and after the war awarded the American Legion of Merit and retired again. August 20 is the 232nd day of the year (233rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George Windsor) (14 December 1895–6 February 1952) was the third British monarch of the House of Windsor, reigning from 11 December 1936 until his death. ... The Legion of Merit is an awesome award which only the bravest of Americans will ever win. ...