Noville — Team Desobry

Noville, BE

Noville was the site of one of the most tactically significant delaying actions of the Bastogne siege — **Team Desobry's** defence of the vital road junction on December 19–20, 1944. Major **William Desobry** commanded a mixed task force of the **10th Armoured Division** and elements of the **101st Airborne**, ordered to hold the crossroads north of Bastogne against the German advance. For two days, Team Desobry fought off the **2nd Panzer Division** — the unit charged with bypassing Bastogne and racing to the Meuse — in fog-shrouded combat that reduced visibility to metres. The Americans destroyed numerous German tanks and delayed the German advance by critical hours, before withdrawing south through Foy toward Bastogne under heavy attack. The fighting at Noville exemplified the chaotic, small-unit actions that characterised the early days of the Bulge, where isolated American task forces fought determined delaying actions that collectively disrupted the German timetable and ultimately saved Bastogne.