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| These soldiers served in the 79th Infantry Division with W O Noble http://www.lonesentry.com/photoalbums/314th_regiment_79th_inf/ |
W O Noble could have been 100 years old today.
He was born on January 6, 1917 in Louisiana. His parents were both Mississippi born. His father George was an engineer working on public roads in 1920, but was a farmer by the 1930 census. W O was Rosa Noble's third child. He had 2 older sisters. He also had 3 younger brothers and 3 more younger sisters. By 1940 W O had completed four years of college, a relatively rare achievement in the South for that era.
Noble enlisted on July 3, 1943. He was a lieutenant serving in G Company, 314th Regiment of the 79th Infantry Division. Serving as a lieutenant in a rifle company was a high risk position. The 79th Division was in action in France within 2 weeks of D-Day. By the end of June it had take the important Normandy harbor of Cherbourg from the Germans. It participated in numerous actions across the advance to Germany, in fact it would be in action for 127 days before it was pulled out for a rest.
I don't know if Lt. Noble was with his unit from the start or if he joined sometime during the campaign as a replacement. During the war the 79th Division took significant casualties of more than 15,000. That's pretty significant since a WW2 Division at full strength had about 15,000 men.
If Lt. Noble was with the 79th Division on September 18, he would have been surprised by Bing Crosby who showed up and entertained the entire division in an airplane factory in Charmes.
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| Bing Crosby with troops http://bingfan03.blogspot.com/2010/11/bing-crosby-on-veterans-day.html |
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| Troops from 79th Infantry Division near were Lt Noble died https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-E-Riviera/USA-E-Riviera-26.html |
By early December 1944, The 79th Division was approaching the German border. Lt Noble's unit was fighting near Haguenau. The enemy was aggressively counterattacking and was effective with their artillery. It was during this combat that Lt. Noble died on December 3, 1944. He was one of more than 3,000 79th Infantry soldiers who were killed or went missing during the war.
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| Original map from http://www.314threunion2009.org/history.shtml |
His remains were returned to be buried at Natchez National Cemetery in Mississippi.
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| http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pv&GRid=1036154&PIpi=41394514 |
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