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Slide 5 of 24
Unselfish, talented General Percy Hobart saved England by personally creating 3 armoured divisions from scratch--the "Desert Rats" defeated the Germans in North Africa and Sicily, the 79th with his "funnies" saved the Allied landings on D-day and enabled the British/Canadians to move 7 miles insland while the foot-slogging Americans nearly got thrown back into the sea at Omaha beach, the 11th Armoured "Black Bulls" following the "Bull's Head" 79th fought all the way to Berlin to end the war in Europe in 1945.
Young Percy Hobart
For a good account of how the reformers suffered persecution at the hands of bureaucrats in the inter-war years, read about the struggle and eventual triumph of British General Percy Hobart:
They called him "Hobo" by Trevor Constable
Also study how the British concluded that wheeled armored cars are fatally vulnerable even for sub-national conflicts (SNCs) during the 1920s and 30s:
Imperial Policing by Major-General Sir Charles Gwynn, K.C.B, C.M.G, D.S.O
To see how the Germans under Guderian listened and were enabled by excellent Czech-built 35T and 38T light tanks:
VIDEO: Panzers
PART 1: Panzers fighting over open terrain of Europe, Kursk was turning point, no more blitzkrieg, WW1 tanks, 1917 battle of Cambrai 400 tanks success but not exploited, German A7V monstrosity tank, Versaille treaty limits forced them to innovate to do job with less men, Guderian gets ideas from British combined-arms warfare, blitzkrieg created, old school resisted everyone moving fast together, Hitler chose his formula, light tanks provided their early successes