Sherman "Crab" Flail tank of the 79th Armoured division passes Saint Martin church, Creully

This Sherman flail tank passes Saint Martin church, Creully at some speed leaving a cloud of dust behind it. This tank belonged to the 30th Armoured Brigade, 79th Armoured Division commanded by Major-General Sir Percy Cleghorn Stanley Hobart. The famous "Hobarts Funnies" of the 79th Armoured Division were a division of specialsed armoured vehicles modified to clear mines, swim from the sea to the invasion beaches, clear beach obstacles and other activities. It did not fight as a complete division, but its units were split up and operated seperately to ensure that all parts of the Commonwealth invasion beaches had their support.

To the left of the tank is the WWI war memorial seen in many previous pictures including a colour picture. Also the bell tower has been seen before from different angles showing a large shell hole on one of the other sides. We can see from this picture that the shell did not go through both sides of the tower.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crab_flail_tank

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/79th_Armoured_Division

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