The 352nd Infantry Division (''352. Infanterie-Division'') was an infantry division of the

German Army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Deployed on the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers * Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a maj ...

, the division defended

Omaha Beach Omaha Beach was one of five beach landing sectors designated for the amphibious assault component of operation Overlord during the Second World War. On June 6, 1944, the Allies invaded German-occupied France with the Normandy landings. "Omaha" r ...

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

, 6 June 1944.

History

Formation and strengths

The 352nd Infantry Division was formed in

occupied France The Military Administration in France (german: Militärverwaltung in Frankreich; french: Occupation de la France par l'Allemagne) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied z ...

in early November 1943; this followed the German High Command order issued in September that year to raise ten new infantry divisions to replace losses on the Eastern Front. These new divisions were to be combat ready by May 1944. The 352nd was placed under the command of ''

Generalleutnant is the Germanic variant of lieutenant general, used in some German speaking countries. Austria Generalleutnant is the second highest general officer rank in the Austrian Armed Forces (''Bundesheer''), roughly equivalent to the NATO rank of ...

'' Dietrich Kraiss. Once up to strength and trained, the 352nd was expected to transfer to the Eastern Front, however there was no clear timetable or confirmation of that deployment and by March 1944, with the threat of an Allied invasion in the West, the 352nd received orders to prepare for the defence of the

Atlantic Wall The Atlantic Wall (german: link=no, Atlantikwall) was an extensive system of coastal defences and fortifications built by Nazi Germany between 1942 and 1944 along the coast of continental Europe and Scandinavia as a defence against an anticip ...

, in the

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

area. The 352nd, when formed, was a mix of experienced soldiers drawn from worn-out or disbanded divisions that had served on the Eastern front, young German, conscripts and a significant number of Ost volunteers, the latter mainly employed in divisional support roles. Throughout the training period there were shortages of men, equipment, and fuel and by early 1944 the division, though reasonably equipped, was far from properly prepared for front-line infantry combat. With the Normandy coastal area extending 100 km, Field Marshal Rommel made the decision to split the area in half, by providing the static 716th Division with a shortened 47 km long '

Caen Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,21st Panzer Division) and deploying the 352nd Infantry Division to defend the 53 km long '

Bayeux Bayeux () is a commune in the Calvados department in Normandy in northwestern France. Bayeux is the home of the Bayeux Tapestry, which depicts the events leading up to the Norman conquest of England. It is also known as the first major tow ...

zone' (bringing the 352nd in between the 709th Division and the 716th Division). Even with the benefit of all the fortifications under construction, this frontage was still far beyond what was considered prudent in German tactical doctrine. This led to a number of disagreements between Rommel, Dietrich Kraiss and the 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, and one infantry regiment would be left in

reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US ...

. However, the Regimental Commands were disrupted as some battalions were operating independently. On the divisional right flank just south of Bayeux, Grenadier Regiment 915, (with 2 battalions) were positioned as a counterattack reserve, along with the Fusilier battalion. On the divisional left flank the 2nd Battalion of Grenadier Regiment 914 was positioned behind the gun emplacement at

Pointe du Hoc La Pointe du Hoc () is a promontory with a cliff overlooking the English Channel on the northwestern coast of Normandy in the Calvados '' department'', France. Pointe du Hoc was the location of a series of German bunkers and machine gun posts. ...

. In the centre of the Divisional area was the 2nd Battalion of Grenadier Regiment 916, defending Omaha beach. The self-propelled

anti tank Anti-tank warfare originated from the need to develop technology and tactics to destroy tanks during World War I. Since the Triple Entente deployed the first tanks in 1916, the German Empire developed the first anti-tank weapons. The first deve ...

battalion were positioned between the left and centre Divisional areas, in reserve. The 1st Battalion of GR 916 were deployed to the 716th Division’s defence sector and would oppose the British in the western area of

Gold Beach Gold, commonly known as Gold Beach, was the code name for one of the five areas of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during the Second World War. Gold, the central of the five areas, was ...

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 – about 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. 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 6 June the first reports of Allied activity in the 352nd zone came from the Cotentin Peninsula and elements of the 915th Grenadier Regiment were despatched to investigate, those units manning the defences on the coast also reported 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 landed 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 some heights overlooking the beach, and opened several beach exits. Just after 15:00 the 916th Grenadier Regiment counterattacked from the Colleville-sur-mer area but was forced to fall back once again, at around 17:00 the village of St Laurent-sur-mer fell to the Americans. The 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 First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

and

29th 29 (twenty-nine) is the natural number following 28 and preceding 30. Mathematics * 29 is the tenth prime number, and the fourth primorial prime. * 29 forms a twin prime pair with thirty-one, which is also a primorial prime. Twenty-nine is also ...

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 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 The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted from 16 December 1944 to 28 January 1945, towards the end of the war in ...

. Thereafter, it fought defensively around

Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...

and the

Moselle The Moselle ( , ; german: Mosel ; lb, Musel ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it joins at Koblenz. A ...

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 ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , source ...

Worms Worms may refer to: *Worm, an invertebrate animal with a tube-like body and no limbs Places *Worms, Germany Worms () is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, situated on the Upper Rhine about south-southwest of Frankfurt am Main. It had ...

. It was partially reconstituted one last time as a battlegroup in mid-April and surrendered near

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the fourth largest city in the state of Hesse ...

Werner Pluskat

Major Werner Pluskat, who was featured in

Cornelius Ryan Cornelius Ryan (5 June 1920 – 23 November 1974) was an Irish-American journalist and author known mainly for writing popular military history. He was especially known for his histories of World War II events: '' The Longest Day: 6 June 1944 D- ...

's 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' above the beach on the Eastern flank.

Order of battle

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 ''Panzerjäger'' (German "armour-hunters" or "tank-hunters", abbreviated to ''Pz.Jg.'' in German) was a branch of service of the German Wehrmacht during the Second World War. It was an anti-tank arm-of-service that operated self-propelled a ...

Abteilung'' ** 14 x Marder II and Marder III variant ''

'' ** 10 x '' StuG III Ausf. G''

assault gun Assault gun (from german: Sturmgeschütz - "storm gun", as in "storming/assaulting") is a type of self-propelled artillery which uses an infantry support gun mounted on a motorized chassis, normally an armored fighting vehicle, which are designed t ...

s ** 9 x '' FlaKPanzer 38'' Self-Propelled ''

Flak Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based ...

'' * ''352. Artillerie Regiment'' ** ''1–9.Batterie'' – 36 x 10.5 cm leFH 16 ** ''10–12.Batterie'' – 12 x

15 cm sFH 18 The 15 cm schwere Feldhaubitze 18 or sFH 18 (German: "heavy field howitzer, model 18"), nicknamed ''Immergrün'' ("Evergreen"), was the basic German division-level heavy howitzer of 149mm during the Second World War, serving alongside the sma ...

* ''352. Pioniere Battalion'' ** 20 x ''

Flammenwerfer A flamethrower is a ranged incendiary device designed to project a controllable jet of fire. First deployed by the Byzantine Empire in the 7th century AD, flamethrowers saw use in modern times during World War I, and more widely in Worl ...

'' ** 6 x '' Granatwerfer'' * 352.

Fusilier Fusilier is a name given to various kinds of soldiers; its meaning depends on the historical context. While fusilier is derived from the 17th-century French word ''fusil'' – meaning a type of flintlock musket – the term has been used in con ...

Battalion (''1. Kompanie'' was bicycle mounted) * ''Feld-

Ersatz An ersatz good () is a substitute good, especially one that is considered inferior to the good it replaces. It has particular connotations of wartime usage. Etymology ''Ersatz'' is a German word literally meaning ''substitute'' or ''replacement ...

Battalion'' ** 6 x 8 cm ''Granatwerfer 34'' ** 1 x 5 cm ''PaK 38'' ** 1 x 7.5 cm ''PaK-40'' ** 1 x 10.5 cm ''Feldhaubitze'' ** 1 x ''Infanterie Geschütz'' ** 2 x ''

'' * 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.

References

Sources

* Wendel, Marcus (2004).
352. Infanterie-Division
. *

. German language article at www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de. Retrieved 3 April 2005. * * {{Subject bar , portal1=Military of Germany , portal2=World War II Infantry 352 Military units and formations established in 1943 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945 3*352