352nd Infantry Division

The 352nd Infantry Division was activated in France in early November 1943, and was formed following a German high command order issued in September that year to raise 10 new infantry divisions, intended to replace losses on the Eastern front, these new Divisions were to be combat ready by May 1944. The 352nd was formed as a 1944 Model Infantry Division, which meant 3 Infantry Regiments, each with 2 Rifle battalions and the total strength of this type of Division was 12,700 men. The 352nd was placed under the command of Generalleutnant Dietrich Kraiss and once up to strength and trained the 352nd was expected to transfer to the Eastern Front as a mobile Divison, however there was no clear timetable or confirmation of that deployment and by March 1944 with an Allied invasion in the West expected that year the 352nd received orders to prepare for the defence of the so called Atlantic Wall, in the Normandy area as part of LXXXIV Corps. The 352nd was a mix of experienced soldiers drawn largely from disbanded Eastern front Divisions and German 17 year old conscripts (from the class of 1926) as well as a significant number of Ost troops (non German volunteers from areas East of its borders), these Ost troops were largely employed in Divisional combat support roles, such as Pioneers. Throughout the training period there were shortages of both men, equipment and fuel but by February 1944 the Division was considered combat ready and placed in reserve around the area of St Lo, Normandy.

Expecting an Allied invasion in 1944 somewhere on the long coast of France the Germans prepared the Normandy coast as a highly probable landing area, however with limited Divisions and a Normandy coastal area extending 100km, Field Marshal Rommel (Army Group B Commander) made the decision after a visit to the area in February 1944 to bring slightly forward the 352nd from St Lo and split the Normandy defensive area in half, by providing the static 716th Division with a shortened 47 km long 'Caen zone', (supported by 21 Panzer) and deploying the 352nd Infantry Division to defend the 53 km long 'Bayeux zone.', this meant placing the 352 Division between the 709 Division and the 716 Division, effectively doubling the number of troops in the Omaha beach area (and committing the 352nd to a static role). Even with this move and the benefit of all the fortifications under construction, this frontage was still far beyond what was considered prudent in German tactical doctrine.^[2] This move (which effectively removed the 352nd from being a Corps reserve) led to a number of disagreements between Field Marshal Rommel, General Dietrich Kraiss and General Marks (LXXXIV Corps Commander) on how best to deploy the Grenadier Regiments of the 352nd, In the end it was decided that two infantry regiments would be stationed forward at the coast, and one strengthened regiment (the 915 regiment with the Fusilier battalion attached) would remain as Corps reserve, however there were other complications with this arrangement that included a battalion of the 716 Division being attached to 352 (1/726). These moves were made from the 19th March 1944.

Another decision was taken at the time that would have greatly influenced the battle to come, it was proposed to Rommel that the LXXIV Corps be moved from Brittany into the Normandy area to provide additional manpower to that sector, however on the grounds that Brittany was also a probable landing site for the Allies this was rejected.

The 352nd began its coastal duty by improving the beach obstacles (at the beach the allies had codenamed 'Omaha'), emplacing additional mined stakes and timber structures. This involved not only cutting and hauling timber from forest 12 miles inland, but also driving stakes and piles deep into the tidal sands. The first band of obstacles - about 250 yards (750 ft) out from the waterline at high tide - consisted of 'Belgian Gates' - reinforced iron frames with supports that were built atop rollers. Next came a band of mined stakes and log ramps, meant to tear the bottoms out of landing craft or tip them over. Finally, there was a row of metal obstacles, including 'hedgehogs', made of steel rails. Although the Germans had attached mines to many of the obstacles, few of them were waterproofed, and corrosion had long since taken its toll of many of the explosive devices. Also the shortages of materials as a result of allied bombings on production facilities and transport systems meant that LXXXIV Corps would report as late as May that the defensive construction plan was only half finished, this included coastal batteries.

The 352nd had moved forwards from its reserve position around St Lo and on the 19th March 1944 had moved into the positions previously occupied by the stretched and static 716th Division, (the left half of the 716 sector), but leaving in place the 1st battalion of the 726th regiment, placed now under the command of the 352nd Division. The 3rd battalion of the 352nd artillery Regiment took over coastal positions (2 battalion had already been deployed to the coast in January) and they came under the control of the 716th Division. The 1st battalion of 916th Grenadier Regiment was position at the Omaha beach, its 2nd battalion (as a trade off for the 726th battalion remaining in position at the beach) was placed under the command of the 716 Division, as its Divisional reserve. The 914th Grenadier Regiment was stationed to the East of the Omaha sector, just south of Point du Hoe, while 915th Grenadier Regiment with the Divisions Fusilier battalion was held as Corps reserve to the south of Bayeux.

Omaha Beach (Divisional Centre) By June 6th 1944 the soldiers of the 1/916th and 1/726th Regiments occupied the positions at Omaha beach, these included numerous slit trenches, eight concrete bunkers, 35 pillboxes, six mortar pits, sites for 35 Nebelwerfer, (multi-barrel rocket launchers) and 85 machine-gun nests, these defenses were clustered around well prepared strongpoints.Those units manning the defences on the coast were also reporting large numbers of vessels out to sea, and just before sunrise at 06:00 the allied naval bombardment began, ending 35 minutes later as US tanks and the first wave of infantry land on the beach to a hail of fire from the heavily fortified strongpoints. Throughout the morning the Americans received heavy casualties on the beach but by 13:00 groups of US soldiers were in possession of key fortifications, had reached the heights overlooking the beach and had opened several beach exits. Just after 15:00 the 916 Grenadier Regiment counterattack from the Colleville-sur-mer area but were forced to fall back once again, at around 17:00 the village of St Laurent-sur-mer falls to the Americans.

Cotentin Peninsula (Divisional Left Flank) In the early hours of the 6th June (around 02:15) the first reports of Aliied activity in the LXXXIV Corps zone came from the Cotentin Peninsula, and elements of the 915th Grenadier Regiment in Corps reserve were despatched to investigate.

Bayeux Area (Divisional Right Flank)

The 352nd was shattered in the fighting during June and July 1944, and having taken heavy casualties by the 30 July it was considered no longer capable of Operating as a Division, the survivors having been amalgamated into various ad hoc battle groups and other Divisions. It was reformed as the 352nd Volksgrenadier Division in September 1944 and fought in the Battle of the Bulge. Thereafter, it fought defensively around Trier and the Moselle until in mid-March 1945 it was once again considered not to be strong enough to be an active Division, with only the remnants escaping across the Rhine at Worms. It was partially reconstituted one last time as a battlegroup in mid-April and surrendered near Darmstadt.

Major Werner Pluskat, who was featured in Cornelius Ryan's book The Longest Day, was in the 352nd Artillery (Artillerie Regiment) and fired his guns on Omaha Beach until he ran out of ammunition. He was forward observer on 'WN60 – Resistance Point 60'^[3] above the beach on the Eastern flank.

The 352nd's order of battle on the eve of the Allied Invasion was as follows (NB: the artillery component is also shown):

• 914. Grenadier Regiment
  • 2 x 15 cm sIG 33
  • 6 x 7.5 cm leIG
  • 3 x 7.5 cm PaK 40
• 915. Grenadier Regiment
  • 2 x 15 cm sIG 33
  • 6 x 7.5 cm leIG
  • 3 x 7.5 cm PaK 40
• 916. Grenadier Regiment
  • 2 x 15 cm sIG 33
  • 2 x 7.5 cm leIG
  • 3 x 7.5 cm PaK 40
• 352. Panzerjäger Abteilung
  • 14 x Marder II and Marder III variant Panzerjäger
  • 10 x StuG III Ausf. G assault guns
  • 9 x FlaKPanzer 38 Self-Propelled Flak
• 352. Artillerie Regiment
  • 1-9.Batterie - 36 x 10.5 cm leFH 16
  • 10-12.Batterie - 12 x 15 cm sFH 18
• 352. Pioniere Battalion
  • 20 x Flammenwerfer
  • 6 x Granatwerfer
• 352. Fusilier Battalion (1. Kompanie was bicycle mounted)
• Feld-Ersatz Battalion
  • 6 x 8 cm Granatwerfer 34
  • 1 x 5 cm PaK 38
  • 1 x 7.5 cm PaK
  • 1 x 10.5 cm Feldhaubitze
  • 1 x Infanterie Geschütz
  • 2 x Flammenwerfer
• Supply Train / Signals Troops
• If organised on Infantry Division, Old Type, lines in 1944, division should number at full strength around 17,200 (excluding attached Fusilier Battalion). The division still retained the old regimental establishment of three battalions (whereas most German Infantry divisions in 1944 had two battalions per regiment). But, these battalions may have been reduced in size, so the strength can vary between 10,971 and the 17,200.

• Wendel, Marcus (2004). "352. Infanterie-Division".
• "352. Infanterie-Division". German language article at www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de. Retrieved 3 April 2005.
• Barbier, Mary (2007). D-day deception: Operation Fortitude and the Normandy invasion. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-275-99479-2.
• Ramsey, Winston G (1995). D-Day then and now, Volume 1. Battle of Britain Prints International. ISBN 0-900913-84-3.
• Channel Attack, Gordon A. Harrison, Published by Konecky & Konecky