A yellow triangle apex down, outlined in black, displaying the head of an aggressive-looking bull with red nostrils and tips to his horns; the device, or Divisional Sign, of the 79th Armoured Division. This beast was in a sense the offspring of a full-bodied creature which served to identify the 11 th Armoured Division. The connection between the two was Major-General Sir Percy Hobart, an outstanding, outspoken and therefore controversial officer, whose stormy career spanned both World Wars. Commencing as a Royal Engineer, Hobart transferred to the Tank Corps in 1923. The new corps, which was permanently established in September of that year and granted the Royal status a month later, embodied the spirit of progress in the post-war army and thus became a natural magnet for young officers of vision, among whom Hobart was in the van. Rising fast, Hobart became Inspector of the Corps in 1933 and in the following year he took charge of the newly created 1st Tank Brigade, a position which enabled him to exercise his unique gift for command and to develop his theories on the employment of armoured formations. The outbreak of war in 1939 found him in Egypt, moulding and training a unit that was to be an inspiration to Britain in the oppressive years ahead, 7th Armoured Division, the Desert Rats. A clash of personality with the GOC in Cairo, H.M.
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