Hudson when will you ever Learn: MORE HINTs are ALWAYS required otherwise it becomes a massive guess feat due to the difficulty of your questions.
They're not difficult to me
Nor apparently to you either since it was indeed Hobart
Besides I had more clues to give, and there's always loads of info in my answers.
I could almost have made this into an article... hmmm there's a thought
Hobart began his career in the Engineers but transferred to the Royal Tank Corps in the 1920s. He rapidly became one of Britain's foremost experts on armoured warfare and a great friend of Liddell Hart, culiminating in taking command of the first permanent armoured brigade in the British army. Unfortunately he had no time for those who either did not understand or would not agree to his methods, a problem that would bring many enemies amongst the more conservative officers above him. Nevertheless he suceeded in introducing superior training methods to the brigade and standardising equipment in tanks such as radios. The late 30s saw him employed in Egypt as the commander of "Mobile Force", later renamed "Armoured Division (Egypt) and later the 7th Armoured Division, the "Desert Rats". He instilled the formation with a degree of elan and superior training but fell foul of his superiors and was soon replaced.
Unfortunately Wavell had by this time managed to arrange his retirement and he returned to the UK apparently no longer wanted. He joined the Home Guard as a Corporal and remained in the post for a few months. Lidell Hart came to the rescue at this point, writing a damning letter to the national press about why such a genius was allowed to retire in the Country's hour of need. Upon being informed Churchill himself demanded that Hobart be reinstated as a Major General, overuling all opposition to the move. Hobart was assigned to command the 11th Armoured Division then destined for the Desert (though never sent) and helped to train it into peak condition. This despite the fact that his enemies were still trying to get him thrown back out on medical grounds, fortunately Churchill again dismissed it.
His true talents were still to come though. An experimental division was being formed in the wake of the Dieppe failure to deal with specialist armoured roles. Hobart was offered command of the 79th Armoured Division and initally was suspicious. After all the man offering him the job, General Alan Brooke had been an opponent of Hobart's before the war and the role could well have been to sideline him from the main war. After talking with Lidell Hart he eventually accepted and took command of the division, rapidly enfusing it with his own brand of elan and professionalism that he'd instilled in 7th and 11th armoured.
The 79th was no ordinary division, for a start it was by the end of the war 4 times larger than the average British armoured division. It's role was to provide specialist armoured units to serve alongside other formations as and when needed, thus meaning that the division was often spread across a wide frontage. Hobart's regiments deployed all sorts of weird and wonderful designs including Duplex Drive Shermans, AVRE Churchills, Bridgelaying Churchills, Sherman Flail mineclearing tanks, Crocodile Churchills and many more. Their importance in amphibous assaults and the storming of fortresses across europe was unquestionable and their deployment on D-Day was a sizeable part of reducing British losses in the landings.
Only a professional like Hobart with his experience and understanding of both engineering and armoured warfare could have effectively developed and commanded such a formation. He remained unpopular with some in Army circles but his record of service in WW2 speaks volumes in answer to his critics. Before he died in 1957 he was knighted and recieved the American Legion of Merit.
The Clues in order
I am a 20th century soldier who began my career in a branch of my country's military that wasn't the same as the branch were I made my fame, although it was linked to it
Hobart began as an engineer before moving to tanks and making his name there. The 79th Division was a marriage of the two branches providing the link.
I fought in two great conflicts for my country and helped form two of my country's more famous formations in one of these conflicts.
Hobart fought in WW1 in France and Iraq, he helped form 7th Armoured Division - the infamous Desert Rats and 79th Armoured Divison, the Funnies.
My fellow officers thought my methods unconventional and opposed me but I was in the forefront of my adopted branch.
As I mention above he had many enemies and was considered very unconventional by most of his peers. What Hobart did to British armour was in a very real sense the practical application of Lidell Hart's writings placing him at the forefront of tank commanders in Britain.
Some of these opponents caused me to take a very drastic drop in rank before political intervention ensured an almost instant rise back.
The drop from command of an armoured division to Corporal in the Home Guard, then rise to Major General in command of 11th Armoured Division, the latter mostly brought about by the personal intervention of Churchill.
He wasn't fired, court-martialled or otherwise demoted during his career.
The drop in rank came through retirement, albeit forced
One of the formations he helped create still exists today, albeit at a smaller size than when he commanded it, another one does not still exist. Both formations were better known by nicknames than their numerical designation.
The modern British army still contains the 7th Armoured Brigade who retain the insignia and historical ties to the 7th Armoured Division. The 79th Division was disbanded at the end of the war. The 7th was better known as the "Desert Rats", the 79th as the "Funnies"
The formations referred to were divisions, one however was considerably larger than the other.
79th had roughly 4 times as many tanks as the average British armoured division.
Unusually for the army he served in he was popular amongst American generals
This is usually attributed to the fact that he was plain speaking, frank, knew what he was talking about and extremely competent. They didn't like Hobart's brother in law much though, then again did anyone really like Monty?
Other clues would have included his nationality, original branch and the cryptic clue "humourous American tramp" - 79th were known as "Hobo's Funnies"
Your turn anyway
Shouldn't noncon get at least an honorable mention though? 
