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{{refimprove|date=March 2016}}
{{Infobox military unit
| unit_name = 352nd Infantry Division<br>352nd Volksgrenadier Division
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| image = 352nd Infanterie-Division logo.jpg
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| size = [[Division (military)|Division]]
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| garrison = <!-- Commanders -->
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| notable_commanders = [[Dietrich Kraiss]]
<!-- Insignia -->| identification_symbol =
| identification_symbol_2 = <!-- Culture and history -->▼
▲<!-- Culture and history -->
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▲| battles = [[World War II]]
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The '''352nd Infantry Division''' (
== History ==
===Formation and strengths===
The 352nd Infantry Division was formed in [[German-occupied France|occupied France]] in early November 1943
With the Normandy coastal area extending 100 km, Field Marshal [[Erwin Rommel|Rommel]] made the decision to split the area in half, by providing the static 716th Division with a shortened 47 km long '[[Caen]] zone', (supported by the [[21st Panzer Division (Wehrmacht)|21st Panzer Division]]) and deploying the 352nd Infantry Division to defend the 53 km long '[[Bayeux]] zone
On the divisional right flank just south of Bayeux,
===D-Day===
The 352nd began its coastal duty by improving the beach obstacles, emplacing mined stakes and timber structures. This involved not only cutting and hauling timber from miles inland, but also driving stakes and piles deep into the sand. The first band of obstacles
By June 1944, many of the coastal strongpoints in their sector were still being manned by personnel from the 726th Infantry Regiment, of the neighboring 716th Division. As a tradeoff, one infantry battalion from the 352nd Division was placed under the command of the 716th Division to help shore up their defenses. In the 'Bayeux zone', 914th regiment was stationed in the west, 916th regiment was stationed in the east, while 915th regiment was in reserve to the south. The soldiers of the 916th and 726th Regiments occupied slit trenches, eight concrete bunkers, 35 pillboxes, six mortar pits, sites for 35 [[Nebelwerfer]], (multi-barrel rocket launchers) and 85 machine-gun nests. The defenses were clustered in strongpoints. In the early hours of
The [[916th Grenadier Regiment (Wehrmacht)|916th Grenadier Regiment]] and a mix of other units either already in place or brought forward throughout the day defended Omaha beach against the landings of the US [[1st Infantry Division (United States)|1st]] and [[29th Infantry Division (United States)|29th]] Divisions at Omaha Beach, holding the bluffs above the beach for several hours, inflicting heavy casualties, before being overwhelmed. The survivors of the 916 Grenadier battalion along with other units retreated in the morning hours of 7 June after the commander, Colonel Ernst Goth, could no longer hold the positions retaken in the night of 6/7 June.
===After the invasion===
The 352nd was shattered in the fighting during June and July 1944, and having taken heavy casualties by
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, Germany|Worms]]. It was partially reconstituted one last time as a [[Kampfgruppe|battlegroup]] in mid-April and surrendered near [[Darmstadt]].
==Werner Pluskat==
Major [[Werner Pluskat]], who was featured in [[Cornelius Ryan]]'s book ''[[The Longest Day (book)|The Longest Day]]'', and the later movie of the same name, 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 'WN59 – Resistance Point 59'<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.omaha-beach.org/The%20Beach/TheBeach.html |title=
== Order of battle ==
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* '''''352. [[Panzerjäger]] Abteilung'''''
** 14 x [[Marder II]] and [[Marder III]] variant ''[[Panzerjäger]]''
** 10 x ''[[StuG III]] Ausf. G'' [[
** 9 x ''[[Flakpanzer 38(t)|FlaKPanzer 38]]'' [[Self-propelled anti-aircraft weapon|Self-Propelled]] ''[[Flak]]''
* '''''352. [[Artillery|Artillerie]] Regiment'''''
** ''
** ''
* '''''352. [[Pioneer (military)|Pioniere]] Battalion'''''
** 20 x ''[[Flamethrower|Flammenwerfer]]''
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** 1 x [[5 cm Pak 38|5 cm ''PaK 38'']]
** 1 x 7.5 cm ''PaK-40''
** 1 x [[10.5
** 1 x ''Infanterie [[Panzer IV|Geschütz]]''
** 2 x ''[[Flammenwerfer]]''
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*{{Cite book|last=Barbier|first=Mary|year=2007|title=D-day deception: Operation Fortitude and the Normandy invasion|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-275-99479-2}}
*{{Cite book|last=Ramsey|first=Winston G|year=1995|title=D-Day then and now, Volume 1|publisher=Battle of Britain Prints International|isbn=0-900913-84-3}}
{{Numbered infantry divisions of the Wehrmacht}}{{Volksgrenadier divisions of the Wehrmacht}}
▲{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2013}}
[[Category:German units in Normandy|Infantry 352]]
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