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4Hobart's Funnies

In the days leading up to D-Day, a number of problems were evident to the men planning the invasion of occupied Europe. Chief among these was the “Atlantic Wall,” a series of defenses that stretched from Norway to the Franco-Spanish border. This presented a formidable obstacle to the Allied armies, who would need to develop new specialist vehicles to combat the soft sand and other logistical difficulties. The task was assigned to Major General Sir Percy Hobart, who had been forced into retirement in 1940 while commanding the famous Desert Rats in Egypt and is often credited as the inventor of Blitzkrieg.

Most of these new vehicles, which came to be known as the “funnies,” were based on the design of the Churchill tank, whose low center of gravity and roomy interior made it ideal for modification. The most famous of the Churchill modifications was the flame-throwing crocodile, the mere sight of which was often enough to compel German soldiers to surrender. Other ingenious features implemented were turrets that could be swapped out for bridges and rolling mats to allow armored vehicles to drive on beaches with soft sand without getting stuck. Variations of Sherman tanks were also used, including one that was designed to be launched from deep water and effectively “swim” in with the first assaults, after which a large waterproof screen would come down, allowing the tank to fight as normal. Another variant was a flail for mine clearance, which proved to be a vital asset.

The funnies saved many lives during attacks on British and Canadian occupied beaches. General Eisenhower even said it was “doubtful if the assault forces could have firmly established themselves without the assistance of these weapons.” Many of the technologies Hobart developed are still in use today in modern specialist armored vehicles, and many of the funnies served the British troops well into the 1950s and ’60s.