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They Were 400 — Task Force Hogan reenactment at Marcouray, December 1944
A documentary film by François Janssen
THEY WERE
400
Surrounded. Ordered to surrender. Back on foot, on Christmas night.
▶ Watch the trailer The true story
Trailer — December 2026
Premiere
DECEMBER 2026 — 82 years after the breakout from Marcouray
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Poster of the documentary They Were 400 — reenactment at Marcouray
Hogan's 400 presents
THEY WERE
400
From the memoirs of Lt. Col. Samuel M. Hogan
A film by François Janssen · With the reenactors of Hogan's 400
NARA archives — US Army Signal Corps · Shot at Marcouray, Belgium
DECEMBER 2026
Synopsis
December 1944. A village in the Ardennes.
400 men the world believes are lost.

Trapped by the last great German offensive, Lt. Colonel Samuel Hogan refuses to surrender. Without fuel, without supply, with fourteen wounded men and the coldest winter of the war, he prepares the unthinkable: to break out. On foot. All together.

Shot on the very locations with reenactors, period vehicles and American archives, They Were 400 gives a face back to each of these men — and to those who hid, treated and guided them.

90 min
Target format
FR / EN
Two versions
Marcouray
Real locations
2026
Premiere
The press already spoke of it — in 1945
Before it was a film, a legend in the newspapers.
"Pfc. Cassady in thrilling escape — one of the fighting 400 of Hogan's Task Force."
American press · January 1945
"Given up as lost for six days, they outwitted the Germans and hiked 10 miles through enemy lines."
Newspaper clipping · 1945
"How come you're only getting here now, Sam? — My foot hurts, General."
Gen. Rose & Lt. Col. Hogan · Werpin, Dec. 26, 1944
The people behind it
Volunteers & enthusiasts
François Janssen, director of the documentary They Were 400
François Janssen
Direction
Reenactors of Hogan's 400 on set
Reenactors of Hogan's 400
The 400 on screen
Families of the Task Force Hogan veterans
Veterans' families
Memory & testimonies
Historians and archives supporting the They Were 400 documentary
Historians & archives
Research & sources
Scenes from the shoot
Marcouray, Beffe, Soy · Belgium
They Were 400 shoot — Task Force Hogan reenactment in the Belgian Ardennes
They Were 400 documentary shoot — reenacted American soldiers at Marcouray
Task Force Hogan reenactment — They Were 400 shoot in the snow
Half-track and reenacted soldiers — They Were 400 shoot, Battle of the Bulge
Reenacted combat scene — They Were 400 documentary, Hogan's 400
They Were 400 shoot — Sherman M4 and Task Force Hogan crew
C-47 airdrop reenactment — They Were 400 shoot at Marcouray
They Were 400 film crew — behind the scenes of the Hogan's 400 documentary
Reenactors of Task Force Hogan before the breakout from Marcouray
The film is made with you
JOIN THE 400
Reenactors, videographers, photographers, supporters — every place counts, as it did in 1944.
Join the project Support the film
Hogan's 400 presents "They Were 400" a documentary film by François Janssen · from the memoirs of Lt. Col. Samuel M. Hogan and the archives of the 3rd Armored Division · with the reenactors of the Hogan's 400 collective · NARA / US Army Signal Corps archives · shot at Marcouray, Beffe, Soy and La Roche-en-Ardenne, Belgium