The 75 mm Howitzer Motor Carriage M8, sometimes known as the M8 Scott, was a self-propelled howitzer vehicle of the United States developed during the Second World War. It was developed on the chassis of the then-new Light Tank M5 (General Stuart VI). The test vehicle had the standard M5 turret removed, and replaced with an open topped turret, this vehicle was designated the T47.

Armament consisted of a new open topped turret armed with a 75 mm M2 howitzer, later an 75 mm M3 howitzer, which were reworks of the M1A1 pack howitzer. It carried 46 rounds of 75 mm ammunition; types of ammunition carried were Smoke M89 and H.E. (High Explosive) M48. It featured no coaxial or hull mounted Browning M1919A4 .30-06 machine guns as featured on standard Light Tank M5s. The only other armament was Browning M2HB .50 cal machine gun for local area, and anti-aircraft defense; 400 rounds of .50 cal were stowed onboard for the M2HB.

Pictured here is a 1:72 scale replica of a US 75 mm Howitzer Motor Carriage M8 Tank with a hedgerow cutter that was attached to the 3rd Armored Division, then deployed to France, during August 1944. Sold Out!

Dimensions:
Length: 2-1/2-inches
Width: 1-1/4-inches

Release Date: October 2015

Historical Account: "Hedgerows" - The Battle of Normandy was fought in 1944 between Nazi Germany in Western Europe and the invading Allied forces as part of the larger conflict of World War II. Over sixty years later, the Normandy invasion, codenamed Operation Overlord, still remains the largest seaborne invasion in history, involving almost three million troops crossing the English Channel from England to Normandy in then German-occupied France. It is most commonly known by the name D-Day.

The primary Allied formations that saw combat in Normandy came from the United States of America, United Kingdom and Canada. Substantial Free French and Polish forces also participated in the battle after the assault phase, and there were also contingents from Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Greece, the Netherlands, and Norway.

The Normandy invasion began with overnight parachute and glider landings, massive air attacks, naval bombardments, and an early morning amphibious phase began on June 6. The 'D-Day' forces deployed from bases along the south coast of England, the most important of these being Portsmouth. The battle for Normandy continued for more than two months, with campaigns to establish, expand, and eventually break out of the Allied beachheads, and concluded with the liberation of Paris and the fall of the Falaise pocket in late August 1944.

The Battle of Normandy was described thus by Adolf Hitler: "In the East, the vastness of space will... permit a loss of territory... without suffering a mortal blow to Germany's chance for survival. Not so in the West! If the enemy here succeeds, consequences of staggering proportions will follow within a short time."