79th Armoured Division
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
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. The unit comprised armoured vehicles modified for specialist roles, intended to assist with the landing phase of the operation.
The unit was commanded by Major General (later Sir) Percy Hobart, and the strange-looking tanks it operated were known as Hobart's Funnies. They included tanks that cleared mines, carried bridges, laid down roadways and floated. The unit did not operate as a single division but the tanks were distributed between the different landing areas.
The 79th Armoured Division was disbanded on 20 August 1945.
The full story with maps and photos can be seen at http://79armoured.moonfruit.com/
