The Story of 79th Armoured Division (1945)

The original WW2 edition of The Story of 79th Armoured Division, published in Hamburg in 1945. This was a restricted document, privately printed in Germany in 1945, with a limited circulation. It tells the is the story of the British Army’s celebrated 79th Armoured Division, a specialist ‘hush-hush’ unit created in readiness for the D-Day invasion of Normandy in 1944. As part of the 21st Army Group, the Division used a variety of armoured vehicles modified for special tasks named ‘Hobart’s Funnies’ after the Division’s commander, Maj-Gen. Sir Percy Hobart. The ‘Funnies’ included amphibious tanks that floated, could clear mines, destroy defences, and lay emergency bridges and roadways. This official history is very well illustrated with photographs and excellent fold-out coloured maps. It follows the Division from its formation, through its finest hour on D-day, and onward to the invasion of Germany and final victory in Europe. For anyone interested in the role of the 79th Armoured Division in the campaigns of 1944-45 this book is an invaluable reference work.

79th Armoured Division: was a specialist armoured division of the British Army created during WW2 as part of the preparations for the Normandy invasion on 6 June 1944. Major-General Percy Hobart commanded the division and was in charge of the development of armoured vehicles that were intended to solve problems encountered during the amphibious landing on the defended French coastline. The unusual-looking tanks it developed and operated were known as "Hobart's Funnies". They included tanks that floated, could clear mines, and destroy beach and coastal defences. The practical value of these specialist tanks was confirmed during the landings on the beaches. Its vehicles were distributed as small units across the other divisions taking part in the landings and subsequent operations. The 79th division remained in action throughout the North-West European Campaign, providing specialised support during assaults to the 21st Army Group and, occasionally, to American units outside 21st. They were of significant use during the Rhine crossings. The original WW2 edition of The Story of 79th Armoured Division, published in Hamburg in 1945. This was a restricted document, privately printed in Germany in 1945, with a limited circulation. It tells the is the story of the British Army’s celebrated 79th Armoured Division, a specialist ‘hush-hush’ unit created in readiness for the D-Day invasion of Normandy in 1944. As part of the 21st Army Group, the Division used a variety of armoured vehicles modified for special tasks named ‘Hobart’s Funnies’ after the Division’s commander, Maj-Gen. Sir Percy Hobart. The ‘Funnies’ included amphibious tanks that floated, could clear mines, destroy defences, and lay emergency bridges and roadways. This official history is very well illustrated with photographs and excellent fold-out coloured maps. It follows the Division from its formation, through its finest hour on D-day, and onward to the invasion of Germany and final victory in Europe. For anyone interested in the role of the 79th Armoured Division in the campaigns of 1944-45 this book is an invaluable reference work.

Hobart had formed the 7th Armoured Division (then known as the Mobile Division) in Egypt before being removed by G.O.C. British Troops in Egypt and sent into retirement. He was brought back into the regular army by Churchill in 1941 to train the new 11th Armoured Division, but ill-health meant he was considered unfit to command the division in battle and he had to give up the appointment. In 1942 Hobart was selected to train another new division, the 79th. The 79th was initially formed as a standard armoured formation serving in the UK under Northern Command in August 1942. General Sir Alan Brooke, the Chief of the Imperial General Staff, who foresaw the need for specialised armoured vehicles, offered command of the division to Hobart in October 1942.

Initially the division included infantry, artillery and engineers but the infantry unit, was removed in September 1942, its artillery regiments were removed by April 1943, and its engineer units were removed by November 1943. In March 1943 Hobart met Brooke to outline the role of developing and training a division of specialist armoured vehicles that would lead the invasion of France in 1944. The new organization of the 79th was a tank brigade, an armoured brigade, and a Royal Engineers assault brigade; this was expanded with additional brigades of the new armoured vehicles developed by the 79th. Under Hobart’s direction the innovative new armoured vehicles began to emerge. They quickly became known as were known as 'Hobart's Funnies’, and would enable the invasion force to get ashore and break through the German defences. The division landed in France in June 1944, and went on to take part in the battle for Brest, the battle for the Scheldt estuary (Operation Infatuate), the battle for the Roer Triangle (Operation Blackcock), the Rhine crossings (Operation Plunder) and the Elbe crossing. The 79th Armoured Division was disbanded on 20 August 1945. Hobart subsequently commanded the Specialized Armour Development Establishment (SADE), which was formed from elements of the 79th together with the Assault Training and Development Centre.

21st Army Group: was a WW2 British headquarters formation, in command of two field armies and other supporting units, consisting primarily of the British Second Army and the First Canadian Army. Established in London during July 1943, under the command of Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF), it was assigned to Operation Overlord, the Western Allied invasion of Europe, and was an important Allied force in the European Theatre. At various times during its existence, the 21st Army Group had additional British, Canadian, American and Polish field armies or corps attached to it. The 21st Army Group operated in Northern France, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany from June 1944 until August 1945, when it was renamed the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR). 21st Army Group took part in the D-Day Landings, the Normandy Campaign, Operation Market Garden, the Battle of the Bulge, and the Rhineland Campaign in Germany.