​​Team Desobry and the Battle of Noville​

​​On 19 December 1944, Team Desobry of the US 10th Armoured Division moved east of Bastogne to the village of Noville on the Houffalize Road. They were one of three teams, Desobry, Cherry and O’Hara. These teams were sent out to block crucial road junctions and stop the advance of the German forces, who had begun their offensive in the Ardennes on 16 December.

​Major Desobry, leader of team Desobry, had a limited number of soldiers and Sherman tanks. Upon arrival they quickly set about creating roadblocks in the directions of Houffalize, Bourcy and Vaux, the expected advance routes for the German troops. With no reinforcements, he was told not to withdraw and to hold his position.

​On the morning of 19 December, there were several attacks by the tanks and infantry of the German 2nd Panzer Division, from the direction of Bourcy and Houffalize. The weather was very poor, with fog and no visibility.

​A further attack came from around Vaux, just as Team Desobry was reinforced by soldiers of the US 609th Tank Destroyer Battalion. The fog lifted and the US troops were able to knock out numerous German Panzer tanks on the nearby ridgeline.

​Desobry set up his command post in a building just west of the local church and observed the battle from there. Later that afternoon he was reinforced by soldiers of the 1st Battalion, US 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. The Division was tasked with a counterattack, which took place late in the afternoon but failed.

​Finally, Desobry was given the order to withdraw his units from Noville. He had been wounded during the battle and a commanding officer of 1st Battalion 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, Colonel LaPrade, had been killed in action.

​Today, Team Desobry is remembered on the memorial that stands at this same location.​