On 18th December 1944, early in the morning, vehicles and soldiers from C Troop, 18th and 32th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, 14th Cavalry Group moving from Poteau direction Recht ran into infantry from Kampfgruppe Hansen, supported by Jagdpanzer IV. The ambush took part on a road near Poteau and americans lost 2 soldiers Charles L. Yost and Henry A. Brueninger as well as half-tracks, jeeps, Stuart light tanks and M8 Greyhounds.
Pictures taken after the battle by German propaganda camera man are very famous. My interest gained the abandoned vehicles, particularly the M8 Greyhound standing on the road behind the German soldiers.
HISTORY:
M8 Greyhound, IMHO a very interesting vehicle, produced by the Ford Motor Company, was a 6x6 wheeled armoured car used during WW2. The vehicle was used by United States and British troops, first seeing action in 1943. The was fitted with a 37 mm M6 gun as well as a .30 Browning machine gun. Additional .50 machine gun could be mounted on a turret ring. The 37mm main gun could fire HE, AP and canister rounds, usually carrying more HE and canister rounds as the 37mm AP rounds were generally ineffective against most German armor.
It had a crew of four consisting of the driver sitting in the left front with the co-driver/radio operator on the right. The turret had the commander/loader on the right side, while the gunner sat on the left. The M8 was powered by a six cylinder in-line, JXD Hercules 110hp gasoline engine.
The Ford built over 8,500 M8s between 1943 and 1945. A number of these vehicles were sent to the British under Lend Lease.
It’s mobility became it’s greatest asset however it’s light armour was susceptible to anti-tank mines. Hence many crews would stack sandbags over the vehicle to help defend against any such attack. Many Third World countries operated this vehicle after the WWII.
Sources:
PALLUD, Jean Paul. Battle of the Bulge, Then and now.
ZALOGA, Steven. The Battle of the Bulge.
LEHMANN, Rudolf. The Leibstandarte IV/1-2 .
ZALOGA, Steven. M8 Greyhound Light Armored Car 1941–91.
THE MODEL:
This is going to be my first model after a few months break. I was very happy to see ISM picked this topic.
The kis is Tamiya 1/35 35228 M8 Greyhound - U.S. Light Armored Car, supported by several after marked products – RB 35B98 metal barrel, Aber 35A72 Fenders, Eduard 35200 Photoetched parts, Legend LF1275 Stowage set and Verlinden 1411 Wheels and Snowchains.
I will post the build progress as well as my experience with the aftermarket products, as these I have not been using very often. I am looking forward as this model was a couple of years resting on the shelf.
Moreover, the Eduard PE include only very few parts for the interior /ammo box, turret ammo rack and something for the drivers section/ which is not helping me at all 
