The Hogan’s 400 story
December 16, 1944.
The Germans launch their major offensive on the Western Front.
December 19, 1944 , Stolberg Germany .
Dreams of a quiet Christmas, already fading since the announcement of the German attack, have now disappeared for the men of the 3rd armored division stationed in Stolberg, Germany. General Maurice Rose’s division is called upon to fill the northern front of the attack in the Hotton region.
December 20, 1944 , Hotton Belgium .
General MAURICE ROSE establishes his HQ in Hotton.
To cover the deployment of VII CORPS, he set up 3 taskforces to move southwards and make contact with the enemy.
Taskforce Kane – left flank
Taskforce Orr – center
Taskforce Hogan – right flank
Enemy position: unknown
Enemy firepower: unknown
Around 12.30 they moved south.
At around 13.30 the Hogan Taskforce reached the town of La Roche.
After establishing a defensive perimeter, Hogan sent out a reconnaissance along the road to their objective, Houffalize.
But at Maboge, men of the 116th panzer division were waiting in ambush in a valley.
The lead tank was hit by anti-tank fire. The tank’s gunner was killed instantly and several others were wounded.
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 at La Roche for the night and report to Soy for a situation report the following morning.
December 21, 1944 , La Roche in Ardenne Belgium .
On his way to report to Soy ,
Hogan came face to face with twenty or so Germans dressed as Americans. After a shoot-out, he managed to escape, accompanied by his driver, his doctor and Lieutenant Worrel.
They spent the night in a wood some twenty meters from the German position.
December 22, 1944 , Marcouray Belgium .
Cut off from his men, Hogan decided to continue his mission and reach Soy on foot through enemy lines.
On his way, he came across the entirety of his men in the vicinity of Marcouray.
Major Walker, head of the taskforce during Hogan’s absence, had decided to withdraw to SOY during the night as well.
After several attempts to break through the village of Beffe.
Hogan had no choice but to fall back to Marcouray, a better defensive position.
The taskforce was now completely surrounded by an entire Panzer division.
December 23, 1944 , Marcouray Belgium .
Despite German night attacks on the village, the taskforce held firm.
A supply of plasma and bandages from the artillery was attempted, but to no avail.
December 24, 1944 , Marcouray Belgium .
A German delegation was sent to demand the taskforce’s surrender.
Hogan refused:
“I said we had orders to fight to the death, and as I was a soldier, I would obey my orders, if they want this village, let them come and take it”.
Later that afternoon, C47s attempted to resupply Marcouray, 6 of which were shot down by the FLAK over LA ROCHE.
On board one of them, André C. Mongeau, radio operator, managed to jump out before his plane crashed, and found himself trapped with the Hogans400. He was sent to the Colonel’s HQ to keep his radio working.
December 25, 1944 , Marcouray Belgium .
General Rose ordered the tanks destroyed, and the men marched back through enemy lines.
At nightfall, faces blackened, helmets abandoned, the 400 set off northwards, after a final farewell to Doc Spigelman, Hogan was the last man to leave Marcouray.
During the night, after several hours of marching in the snow, the men at the head of the column came across a German sentry.
The sentry gave the first warning (“HALT!”), at which point Staff Sergeant Lee B. Porter moved off his own initiative. Porter moved off the column on his own initiative, silently approaching the German sentry, and when he got to his back, Lee drew his bayonet and neutralized him without making a sound.
Lee’s feats of arms are described in detail here.
December 26, 1944 , SOY Belgium .
In the morning, the first men of the column joined the lines of the 75th infantry division at Werpin.
This was the case for all the others, except one. 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 shots.
