Percy Hobart
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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.
Early life
Hobart was born in Naini Tal, India. In his youth he studied history, painting, literature and church architecture. He was educated at Temple Grove and Clifton College, and in 1904 he graduated from the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich and was commissioned into the Corps of Royal Engineers. He was first sent to India, but during World War I he was sent to France and then to Mesopotamia (now Iraq).
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 the nickname "Hobo". In 1934 he became Brigadier of the first permanent armoured brigade in Britain and Inspector Royal Tank Corps. He had to fight for resources for his command because the British Army was still dominated by conservative cavalry officers. He was made Deputy Director of Staff Duties (Armoured Fighting Vehicles) in 1937 and later Director of Military Training, and promoted to Major-General. Hobart was sent to form The Mobile Division in Egypt in 1938, although a local general resisted his efforts. The Mobile Division later became the 7th Armoured Division, to become known as the famous Desert Rats during the war.
World War II
Sir Archibald Wavell dismissed Hobart into retirement in 1940, 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 in 1941. 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.
The Dieppe raid in 1942 demonstrated the inability of regular tanks and infantry to cope with fortified obstacles in an amphibious landing. This showed the need for specialised vehicles when it came time for the Allies to invade Europe.
In March 1943 Chief of the Imperial General Staff, Field Marshal Sir Alan Brooke assigned Hobart to form a unit 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 made Knight of the British Empire. His brother-in-law Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery informed Dwight D. Eisenhower of his needs to build unusual tank designs.
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.
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.
After the war Hobart was awarded the American Legion of Merit and returned to retirement in 1946.
External Links
- [Royal Engineers Museum] Royal Engineers biographies (Percy Hobart)
- [A very detailed summary of Hobart's career]
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