CROCODILES, BUFFALOS, KANGAROOS, FLAILS

Press, Volume LXXXI, Issue 24570, 19 May 1945, Page 6

CROCODILES, BUFFALOS, KANGAROOS, FLAILS

THE 79th ARMOURED

LONDON, May 10.—Bit by bit, piece by piece, one learns of remarkable facts in this war—notably, when visiting one of the more extraordinary British divisions, the 79th Armoured. Soldiers, with their irrepressiblebanter, sometimes «f« to the 79th as “the Funnies” or “the Zoo. ; xne lie%th 9t falls al for a th OU these Buffalos, and Kangaroos. Behind these ttTadaptatlm ol'the tanks .which did *S? Mr losses <?ti the beaches would ha vebewi infinitely greater. It is right that we, who Invented the tank, should now. with the aid of the Americans and Canadians, have pioneered in this manner. In these acfeptations we the world. Between wars and in this war we British have often lagged behind in the design and building of tanks. Having admitted that, we can concongratulate ourselves on the 79tn A What rC do these tanks do? The flail tank clears a minefield by employing a device of revolving chains which flog the ground. The Crocodile has a flame-thrower mounted on the tanx. The Avre mounts a kind of chubby mortar which hurls a petard or flying dustbin” filled with explosive, specially useful for attacking strong points, breaching walls, and so forth. The Buffalo, Invented by the Americans, is a tank for transporting troops across rivers. It was immensely successful at Walcheren and in crossing the Rhine and the Elbe. The other day 30 or 40 were ploughing’ to and fro across the Elbe at one time. The Kangaroo, first used, I think, by the Canadians, does on land what the Buffalo does on water—ensures that the troops get to their rendezvous without being shot up on the way. Among the Avre tanks used by sappers, as distinct from tank men, is a tank carrying fascines for fillhig ditches and craters. For all those devices General Hobart deserves much credit, Hobart’s Work He is a man of a lively and radical mind who was at one time in the War Office as Director of Military Training. He has always fought tooth and nail for tanks, often against much opposition. He formed the 7th Armoured Division, later to become famous as the Desert Rats. When in Egypt before the war he had much, to do with forming the plan of campaign in the Western Desert which WaveH put into such devastating effect. Hobart retired at the end of 1939 and spent a year in the Home Guard as a private, rising to lance-corporal! In March, 1941, he was asked to form another armoured division, the 11th, which has his personal crest, a black bull. A jump now to the costly raid on Dieppe. This raid was carried out partly to learn some lessons. The two chief ones were (a) that you must get

[By JAMES LANSDALE HODSON.I

a iQt of armour ashore early, and (M§J men working on beaches must brxfrj armoured vehicles. Hobart was glvSfil the job of evolving a technique the assault on Europe. fighting against men of a more dox nrnid than his pwu, he set abm J It. He was given a brigade of and a brigade of sappers, and little b#J little the answers were found* Fino-’-il ing them was a combined operation,.;j Various men of various Ministries de- vl serve credit. Moreover, our inteUi- i gence concerning German defences was first rate; our photo* '1 graphs, the French Underground, aadf ? the knowledge gained on our raids. ,f saw to that. Success for "The Fannies" t-■afl From January, 1943, Hobart’s was g - j special device division. Every written was headed “secret.” We-I erected a specimen of the German fences. We trained and trained. A£J Mr Rackham Invented an imptovieftM Flail device for a»tank. The was encouraged unofficially until - tßli War Office could be told, “See- whatagl we have, got.” Senior officers 'WSjtesia invited to a demonstration of sevetiE 1 devices. Field-Marshal 1 who is General Hobart’s brothe&im| m law, was completely won over. On Ok&I Day tanks with flails cleared a'lS|ip 1 up the beaches; and Avre tanks. their petards, tackled rtHbwMag strongpoints, and walls and slowly bufell certainly a pathway was cleared orfl made for the ordinary armpur low. No doubt we could have our way ashore without the so*d|Kd|||l “funnies”: but the cost would been infinitely heavier, , Tank Lessons That beach battle, In QAwtSpii Hobart’s view, was the his division has had. But they-|iM«ffi done other fine work Flails' “Insurance company” wasMaliK fui at Le Havre, Calais, and logne. At Le Havre Crocodile throwers, 45 of them, were WWOH throwing their flames 25 ie*% other tanks gave covering flreijiiißW had 400 Buffalos at the Rhine enBWBI iag, doing their six struggling with a cross-current .kflßg knots strong; (It had all bemtmaßS hearsed on tfie Maas.) The BaOMaBB. tank is the nearest approadl bridge we have yet pers in their Avre tanks. valiant indeed: for the tanks are occasionally chockful of plosive and sometimes they hnrl'jjlßnj their tanks to work in the work that needs very close conttdl&HS officers. So it has gone on goes on. At Brest cur worked with the Americans. 1 - FjMNHHra Hobart said be would likehigh tribute to them, espdcialhr courage; Two lessons 1 hope we leamtr-flrst, to, have scientists ip the War second, td have atank rank’bit the Army CouncflU