Hobart’s Funnies Specialist Armoured Vehicles
Major-General Sir Percy Cleghorn Stanley Hobart KBE CB DSO MC
Born in India on the 14th June 1885, Percy Hobart was an officer of the Royal Engineers between 1904 and 1923. In 1923 he joined the newly formed Royal Armoured Corps in the belief that the tank was the future of modern warfare. After various stints as a Staff Instructor in Quetta, 2nd In Command of 4th Battalion, R.A.C. then Commanding Officer of 2nd Battalion, R.A.C., Hobart raised and took command of the 1st Tank Brigade in 1934. Whilst commanding 1st Tank Brigade, he developed tactics for mobility and speed and techniques for command and control. In 1938 he was sent to India where he raised the 7th Armoured Division. His advanced ideas on the use of armour, was at odds with the current thinking in the British Army at the time, and in 1939 he was removed from his post and retired. This wasn’t the end of his military career however. In 1941 he was recalled by Churchill himself who put him in command of 11th Armoured Division.
After the disastrous Dieppe Raid, it was realised that specialist armoured vehicles would be needed for future amphibious landings. So in April 1943, Hobart was given the task of raising, organising and training the 79th Armoured Division for the invasion of Europe in 1944.
In 1939, the Royal Engineers had no armoured vehicles and it was soon found that change was needed. It was realised that some form of armoured engineer tank was needed, so that engineers could clear paths through minefields and other obstacles. Previously, the Royal Engineers had to experiment with tanks borrowed from armoured units. The formation of 79th Armoured Division provided the impetus needed to develop specific new vehicles and work soon began to “co-ordinate the development of armoured assault techniques and equipment.”
By the end of October 1943, various Royal Engineer units had been absorbed into this new division and formed the 1st Assault Brigade, Royal Engineers.
Hobart’s Funnies Specialist Armoured Vehicles
The main vehicles this Assault Brigade used were based on the Churchill hull and were various versions of the Churchill AVRE (Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers).
Churchill AVRE –
armed with a 290mm Petard Spigot Mortar and could carry fascines for filling in ditches.
Churchill AVRE ‘Bobbin’ –
which was a rolled up track way which, when unrolled, allowed other armoured vehicles to cross beaches without getting stuck.
Churchill ARK (Armoured Ramp Karrier) –
which was a Churchill hull, fitted with a ramp at both ends and, with the ramps lowered, allowed vehicles try drive over the top of it in order to cross larger ditches or obstacles.
Churchill Crocodile –
which had its bow machine gun replaced by a flamethrower. Fuel for the flamethrower was carried in an armoured trailer towed by the Crocodile. There was enough fuel for 80 1 second bursts of fire. The Churchill Crocodile went on to become one of the Allies’ most feared weapons.
When the Korean War started in 1950, a few Churchill Crocodiles were sent out there, but the crews soon dropped off their armoured fuel trailers and used their Churchills as conventional gun tanks. The Churchill’s excellent cross country mobility, again, enabled them to climb the hilly terrain found in Korea; much like it did during the North African campaign in Tunisia as mentioned earlier.
Hobart’s Funnies Specialist Armoured Vehicles
Whilst most of the Churchill adaptations were used by the Royal Engineers, other adaptations, based on the U.S. M4 Sherman Medium tank, were used by the Royal Armoured Corps units.
Amongst these Sherman adaptations were the:
Sherman Crab flail tank –
The Sherman Crab was fitted with a large frame that had a drum between two arms at either side of the tank’s hull. Attached to this drum were numerous chains with balls on the ends. When the drum rotated, the balls would beat the ground in front of the tank, detonating any mine that lay in its path.
Sherman DD (Duplex Drive) amphibious tank –
The Duplex Drive was developed by Hungarian born Nicholas Straussler. It consisted of 2 propellers driven by the tank’s tracks and a flotation screen that was raised to allow the tank to ‘swim’ through the water. When the tank reached dry land, the screen was lowered, allowing the tank to resume its conventional fighting role.
The various vehicles used by 79th Armoured Division proved to be extremely successful, especially during the Normandy landings.
This page was writtern and Submitted by Bruce Forrest.