RockinRecon Posted July 18, 2013 Share #1 Posted July 18, 2013 What would be the job or what kind of action would these vehicles be seeing in a Calvary Reconnaissance Squadron of an Armored Dvision in WWII? I had a family member that I never got to know who served as a gunner in one of these vehicles in the 6th Armored Division in WWII. He was awarded the Purple Heart, Bronze Star Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, Good Conduct Medal, African, Middle Eastern, European Campaign Medal with 5 campaign stars and I also am pretty sure his unit received 2 Meritorious Unit Citations. He was my Grandfather and I never got to know him, but I do have his medals and requested and received a copy of his Military records and want to learn as much as I can about what he did in the war, and I know he was a gunner in a M8 HMC in the Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron for the 6th Armored Division from his records and having a picture of him in front of the vehicle but know very little about the role the vehicle and unit played in the war and would very much appreciate any info about them. Thanks Very Much, William. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobrahistorian Posted July 18, 2013 Share #2 Posted July 18, 2013 The M8 HMC was basically an M5 Stuart light tank with a 75mm howitzer in an open-topped turret. They were used for on-call fire support for the Cavalry Squadron and also as assault guns in the direct fire role. The M8 is an awesome "little" vehicle (at least for a tank) and one of my favorite WWII armored vehicles. There is one here at the Field Artillery Museum and another up in Oklahoma City at the 45th Infantry Division museum, giving Oklahoma the highest concentration of M8 HMCs in the US! v/r Jon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockinRecon Posted July 19, 2013 Author Share #3 Posted July 19, 2013 The M8 HMC was basically an M5 Stuart light tank with a 75mm howitzer in an open-topped turret. They were used for on-call fire support for the Cavalry Squadron and also as assault guns in the direct fire role. The M8 is an awesome "little" vehicle (at least for a tank) and one of my favorite WWII armored vehicles. There is one here at the Field Artillery Museum and another up in Oklahoma City at the 45th Infantry Division museum, giving Oklahoma the highest concentration of M8 HMCs in the US! v/r Jon Thanks very much for the info, it was very interesting for me to findout what those vehicles were mainly used for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockinRecon Posted July 31, 2013 Author Share #4 Posted July 31, 2013 looking at the picture of him in front of his M8 HMC I can see the numbers/markings under USA and they are ''4052538 S''. Also there is a nickname for the vehicle near the front but the picture is so small it's very hard to make out what the name is but it looks like ''ELJAWILL'' or at least something similar. Anyway is there anyway I can findout what the ''4052538 S'' on the vehicle means? Thanks Very Much, William. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kubel Posted November 2, 2013 Share #5 Posted November 2, 2013 Bonjour, this is the only stuart M8 in good condition in Europe . The owner is my friend Alexis Guillaume , member of " Ardennes 1944 " association . Nicolas more photos on my blog :http://nicokubel.blogspot.fr/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andersun Posted November 2, 2013 Share #6 Posted November 2, 2013 looking at the picture of him in front of his M8 HMC I can see the numbers/markings under USA and they are ''4052538 S''. Also there is a nickname for the vehicle near the front but the picture is so small it's very hard to make out what the name is but it looks like ''ELJAWILL'' or at least something similar. Anyway is there anyway I can findout what the ''4052538 S'' on the vehicle means? Thanks Very Much, William. 4052538 is the vehicle's registration number. The "S" means that the vehicle is equipped with radio suppression. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronCatfish Posted November 24, 2013 Share #7 Posted November 24, 2013 Bonjour, this is the only stuart M8 in good condition in Europe . The owner is my friend Alexis Guillaume , member of " Ardennes 1944 " association . Nicolas more photos on my blog :http://nicokubel.blogspot.fr/ Cool pics! I have a new scope for the M8. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry K. Posted November 24, 2013 Share #8 Posted November 24, 2013 A great tank! Very fast. I had a friend that ended up as a commander of one in WW2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Baker Posted November 24, 2013 Share #9 Posted November 24, 2013 William, If you can scan your photo on a decent scanner, you will be amazed at the detail of some of these small photos. I scanned all the old photos in my parents albums and it was incredible what came out. I took a scan of my Dad from one of those 3x4? photos and turned it into an 8x10 and it's crystal clear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FAAA Posted November 28, 2013 Share #10 Posted November 28, 2013 What would be the job or what kind of action would these vehicles be seeing in a Calvary Reconnaissance Squadron of an Armored Dvision in WWII? I had a family member that I never got to know who served as a gunner in one of these vehicles in the 6th Armored Division in WWII. He was awarded the Purple Heart, Bronze Star Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, Good Conduct Medal, African, Middle Eastern, European Campaign Medal with 5 campaign stars and I also am pretty sure his unit received 2 Meritorious Unit Citations. He was my Grandfather and I never got to know him, but I do have his medals and requested and received a copy of his Military records and want to learn as much as I can about what he did in the war, and I know he was a gunner in a M8 HMC in the Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron for the 6th Armored Division from his records and having a picture of him in front of the vehicle but know very little about the role the vehicle and unit played in the war and would very much appreciate any info about them. Thanks Very Much, William. Your Grandfather was a member of the 86th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron. Would love to see that picture of him. A fine unit which was billited not far from me here in the UK before shipping over to France. Regards Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audacia cum prudentia Posted December 14, 2013 Share #11 Posted December 14, 2013 They were termed ; "assault guns " in WW2, and were in E company in a CRSM except in the 1st/2nd/3rd Armored Divisions where one was in each Recon platoon. Other units also used them, for example armored infantry battalions had an assault gun platoon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockinRecon Posted December 15, 2013 Author Share #12 Posted December 15, 2013 I thank you so very much Everyone for all this great info about this vehicle. I don't much about computers and such but i would love to scan the pics i have of my Grandfather and the M8 HMC and post them here. would i have to buy a scanner to do this, if so where is the best places to buy them and how much do they cost on average? I just got a cellphone that takes picture but have not completely learned how to take the pics and put them in my computer. also thinking of buying a printer for my computer to print military info on paper and store it with my other military records and papers. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry K. Posted December 21, 2013 Share #13 Posted December 21, 2013 I thought you would like to see a picture of my friend's M8 in the field during the war. At this time he was with the 92nd Cavalry Reconnisence Squadron (Mech) with the 12th AD. I always wanted a pic of his tank but he never found them but his son did and gave me a copy two weeks ago. Meet Delore "Bus" Trudeau. i always wanted a large scale model made of his tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry K. Posted December 21, 2013 Share #14 Posted December 21, 2013 His son has more I'm going to get from him. He said they towed a small cart behind them a lot and you can see there is something hooked to his tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockinRecon Posted December 22, 2013 Author Share #15 Posted December 22, 2013 His son has more I'm going to get from him. He said they towed a small cart behind them a lot and you can see there is something hooked to his tank. Thanks very much for posting that pic! It's a great picture and means a lot to me because it's a pic of a Soldier and his M8 HMC and I don't find very many of those and I saved it to my computer and will print out of copy of it to have on paper in my military pictures collection. In one of the pics of my Grandfather and his M8 HMC you can see something is hitched to his vehicle as well. I think those were ammo trailers that they towed sometimes. Regards, RR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audacia cum prudentia Posted December 22, 2013 Share #16 Posted December 22, 2013 fOR SMALL cart read M10 AMMUNITION TRAILER Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockinRecon Posted January 5, 2014 Author Share #17 Posted January 5, 2014 hope this works, just got my first camera of this type, now trying to learn how to post pics. this should be a pic of my Grandfather and his M8 HMC. wish i could make it bigger, but when i was first trying to post it kept saying it was too big. i've got a lot to learn about this stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Baker Posted January 5, 2014 Share #18 Posted January 5, 2014 I sent you a message. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockinRecon Posted January 5, 2014 Author Share #19 Posted January 5, 2014 hopefully i can figure this stuff out, i've went to photo bucket and downloaded some pics to there but i still can't post anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockinRecon Posted January 5, 2014 Author Share #20 Posted January 5, 2014 one more try for today maybe? there! maybe i can get the hang of this now and maybe post a few more pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Baker Posted January 5, 2014 Share #21 Posted January 5, 2014 You got it. Sorry for the delay. I was out shoveling snow. Oh boy!! Here is a trimmed version for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockinRecon Posted January 5, 2014 Author Share #22 Posted January 5, 2014 You got it. Sorry for the delay. I was out shoveling snow. Oh boy!! Here is a trimmed version for you. 006_zpsca86c7ee.jpg Thanks very much! I hope i've got it now, i've been way behind the times and payed no attention to most new technology and now that i'm finally getting more of this new stuff i'm having to learn as i go with it. it's kind of embarrassing now, but i can do it if i try. It's cold enough here to snow and i've got to go outside and do a few things in this cold weather. after that i have a couple more pics i may try to post. Thanks again! i like that trimming done to the pic and hope to learn to do that too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Baker Posted January 5, 2014 Share #23 Posted January 5, 2014 You should have some kind of photo program with your computer. Even the basic stuff will let you do enough to get by. Dig up the manual for your computer and see what's in there. And don't feel too bad. I was 30 years old before I ever TOUCHED a computer. My 3 year old grandson is playing games on them....... Oh, and I got my first cell phone this year. I mean last year now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockinRecon Posted January 6, 2014 Author Share #24 Posted January 6, 2014 You should have some kind of photo program with your computer. Even the basic stuff will let you do enough to get by. Dig up the manual for your computer and see what's in there. And don't feel too bad. I was 30 years old before I ever TOUCHED a computer. My 3 year old grandson is playing games on them....... Oh, and I got my first cell phone this year. I mean last year now. that's about the same as me, i just got my first cell phone a few months back. i'm just leanring as i go with this and am a little later getting a lot of this equipment than others. i have a few other pics, here is one with a captured P-38 pistol and dagger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kubel Posted January 6, 2014 Share #25 Posted January 6, 2014 Libération de Charleville ( France ) 3 septembre 1944 24th Cavalry Squadron 4th Cavalry group M8 de la 2e D.B française destroyed - Andelot 11 septembre 1944 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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