The History of Hogan's 400
The Germans launch their major offensive on the Western Front.
December 16 , 1944
The dreams of a peaceful Christmas which had already faded since the announcement of the German attack have now disappeared for the men of the 3rd armored division stationed in Stolberg in Germany. General Maurice Rose's division is called upon to fill the northern front of the attack in the Hotton region.
December 19, 1944 Stolberg Germany
The general established his HQ in Hotton. To cover the deployment of VII CORPS, he set up 3 taskforces with the objective of moving towards the south and making contact with the enemy.
Taskforce Kane – left flank
The Orr Taskforce – in the center
And Taskforce Hogan – right flank
Enemy position: unknown
Enemy firepower: unknown
Around 12:30 they moved south. Around 1:30 p.m. Taskforce Hogan reached the town of La Roche
After establishing a defensive perimeter, Hogan sent a reconnaissance en route to their objective Houffalize. But in Maboge, the men of the 116th panzer division awaited them in ambush in a valley The lead tank was hit by anti-tank fire.
The tank's gunner was killed instantly and several were injured.
This was the first loss of the HOGAN taskforce during the Battle of the Bulge.
Hogan radioed that the enemy was preventing him from going any further.
He was ordered to stay in La Roche for the night and report to Soy for a situation report the next morning.
December 20, 1944 . Hotton Belgique .
On the way to his report to Soy, Hogan comes face to face with around twenty Germans dressed as Americans, after a shootout he manages to escape accompanied by his driver, his doctor and Lieutenant Worrel.
They spent the night in a wood about twenty meters from the German positions..
December 21 ,1944 . La Roche en Ardenne , Belgium.
Cut off from his men, Hogan decided to continue his mission and join Soy on foot through enemy lines.
On his way he came across all of his men in the area around Marcouray.
The major, being head of the taskforce during Hogan's absence, had made the decision to retreat towards SOY also during the night.
After several attempts to break through into the village of Beffe.
Hogan had no choice but to fall back on Marcouray being a better defensive position. The taskforce was now completely surrounded by an entire panzer division.
December 22, 1944 . Marcouray Belgium .
December 23, 1944 . Marcouray Belgium.
Despite the German night attacks on the village, the taskforce held on.
A resupply of plasma and bandaging by artillery was attempted but without success.
A German delegation was sent to demand the surrender of the taskforce.
Hogan refused: “I said we had orders to fight to the death and since I was a soldier, I would obey my orders, if they want this village, let them come and take it. »
Later in the afternoon, c47s attempted to resupply Marcouray, 6 were shot down by the FLAK above LA ROCHE
On board one of them, André C. Mongeau, radio operator, he managed to jump before his plane crashed, and found himself trapped with the Hogans400
It will be sent to the Colonel's PC to keep his radio in working order.
December 24, 1944. Marcouray Belgium .
General Rose ordered the destruction of the tanks, and the return on foot through the enemy line.
At nightfall, faces blackened, helmets abandoned, the 400 set off towards the North, after a last goodbye to Doc Spigelman, Hogan was the last man to leave Marcouray.
During the night, after several hours of walking in the snow, the leading men of the column came across a German sentry.
This gave a first warning ("HALT!"), it was then that Staff Sergeant Lee B. Porter moved away from the column on his own initiative, silently approaching the German sentry, arriving behind his back, Lee took out his bayonet and neutralized him without making the slightest noise.
The column was then saved from possible capture. Lee's feats of arms, recounted in details ->here
December 25, 1944. Marcouray Belgium.
In the morning, the first men of the column joined the lines of the 75th infantry division near Werpin. This was the case for all the others, except one. Hit by a friendly bullet in the leg, this unfortunate man never recovered from his wounds.
The men were then taken to the center of Soy, to the Ringlet family farm where hot soup, rations, bread and a team of reporters from Detachment K of the 165th Signal Photographic Company (Sgt Joseph Demarco and Léon Rosenmann ), here are some of their photos.
