The 352.Infanterie-Division was an infantry division in the German Wehrmacht during World War II serving on the Western Front.  The unit, best known for its defense of what would become Omaha Beach during the D-Day Invasion on 6 June 1944, fought in Normandy, Holland, in the Ardennes Offensive and to the end of the War in Germany.  In our reenacting unit, we portray 5.Kompanie, II.Battaillon of the 916.Grenadier Regiment.

UNIT SYMBOL

The 352.Infanterie-Division had no unit symbol like many of the other "elite" German army and SS divisions (e.g. Großdeutschland and Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler).  Sometime after the war, some (most likely war gamers) tried to attribute a symbol to the Division - typically a pegasus jumping over a bridge.  However, during the war, the 352nd did not have an official symbol.  

A soldier from the Division put it best: 

For reenacting purposes, we will use the following symbols to identify our unit:

FORMATION

Unlike the Division's neighboring units - the 709th and 716th Infantry Divisions - the 352nd was considered a combat unit.  The 709th and 716th were defensive "fortress" units, and were considered immobile.  The 352.ID was responsible for an unreasonably large area of territory.  It's primary missions were:

• Costal Artillery and Beach Defenses

• Reserve Division for the Army Corps

• To provide one Regiment as Tactical Reserve for LXXXIV Corps

Because most  of Germany's resources and support went to the Ost Front, the 352nd had to deal with ration and supply problems from its conception, but it did enjoy the higher quality food and leisure time in France that their counterparts in the East never saw. 

DIVISION COMPOSITION

The Division cadre were formed from the remnants of the following units serving on the Ost Front, namely:

The survivors from the 546.Grenadier-Regiment formed the cadre for the 1st and 2nd battalions of the 916.Grenadier-Regiment of the 352.Infanterie-Division.

Because most of the members of the 352nd were Ost Front veterans, they were hardened soldiers - from the officers down to the Obergrenadiers.  A large number of Volksdeutsch recruits were also a part of the Division.  These Volksdeutsch recruits included Polish and Czech Germans, Alsatians (French Germans), and Russians (White-Russians, or POA). 

DIVISION ORDER OF BATTLE

At the time of the Division's formation, it had 12,021 men.  Of that, only 6,800 men were combat troops.  The 352.ID was a large Division, by German standards at the time, but it was by no means a "crack" division.  Cadre from the Ost Front formed the leadership of the Division and the bulk of the Landsers were young conscripts and foreign volunteers from the East.  The Division had approximately 29% Russian volunteers, to include Ukranians, Georgians and Belarusians.  Much of the rest of the Division's Landsers were young boys just out of high school, who suffered from malnourishment from food rationing for the War effort. 

INFANTERIE

The 352.ID had three Infanterieregimenter (infantry regiments), each with three Infanteriebataillone  (infantry battalions).  A Regiment in a German Division was known as an Infanterie-Regiement, or more commonly at this time in the War as a Grenadier-Regiment.  The 352.ID was considered a large Division because it retained the standard nine battalions, while a majority of all other German Divisions at the time had been reduced to six battalions.  All infantry battalions had 60 light machine guns, three heavy machine guns and twelve 8 cm mortars.  Each infantry regiment had one infantry gun (IG).  The 914th and 915th Regiment’s IG company had two 15 cm and six 7,5 cm infantry howitzers.  The 916th Regiment’s IG company had two 15 cm and two 7,5 cm infantry howitzers.  Each Regiment had a PaK (Anti-Tank) company with three 7,5 cm PaK 40 Anti-Tank guns.

916.Infanterie Regiment was formed primarily by the survivors of Grenadier-Regiment 546 from the Ost Front.  The rest of the Regiment was filled out with recruits coming from Grenadier Ersatz Bataillon 396, stationed in Nordheim.  

ARTILLERIE

PANZERJÄGER

PIONIERE

FÜSILIER

FELDERSATZ

ATLANTIKWALL

THE 352nd IN BATTLE IN FRANCE

Aerial reconnaissance photos of the Normandy coastline on 3 June, days before the invasion, indicate that elements of an unidentified infantry unit have relocated to positions along the Calvados coast, just east of the Vire estuary.  Allied Intelligence suspects it to be the veteran 352nd Infantry Division, although the 352nd had thought to have been located further south.  No reports have been received from resistance groups in France as to the 352nd relocating to the coastline. 

In fact, a French resistance group did try to notify the Allies of the 352nd weeks before via carrier pigeons.  Two pigeons were sent with the same message (to increase the chances of delivery), but the Germans manning the Atlantikwall along the coast, aware that resistance groups used carrier pigeons, managed that day to shoot both birds carrying the message as they were flying out to the English Channel.  

Allied Intelligence determined that major commands should be notified of the unaccounted German strength in the area.  Unfortunately, notification takes more than 48 hours to be delivered to the pertinent commands.  By the time General Bradley, commander of the U.S. First Army, receives this intelligence, he and his command have already put out to sea - just four hours before the naval bombardment is to begin.  The troops under Bradley's command that are storming the beach code named Omaha, the U.S. 1st and 29th Infantry Division, will not know until it's too late that the beach has been fortified and reinforced by the veteran German 352nd Infantry Division.

Once the D-Day invasion began on 6 June 1944, and the 352nd realized it was facing the brunt of the Invasion, it immediately absorbed all troops within is sector, to include Luftwaffe  Flak troops and RAD (Labor Service) personnel.  Once it became clear that the main Allied invasion force was coming ashore at Normandy, all available units were rushed to the front.  Hardened bunkers (Winderstandsnest) on or near the beach opened fire and continued to fire until they depleted their ammunition or all the men inside were dead.  Artillery Regiment 352 and 1275 had pre-sighted every inch of the landing areas on the beach and rained shells down upon the landing Allied forces.  They, too, continued to fire until they had run out of ammo or were in danger from being encircled.

The following excerpts are from U.S. soldiers fighting the 352nd in Normandy:

THE 352nd IN BATTLE IN HOLLAND

THE 352nd IN BATTLE IN HOLLAND

The 352.Volksgrenadier-Division itself was made up of several "jobless" Kriegsmarinemänner (Navy men).  Their morale was high, but their limited experience as infantry in ground operations showed in their poor fighting and maneuvering ability.  The newly reformed Division had the same three Infanterieregimenter - 914., 915., and 916. Grenadier-Regiements, but with only six Infanteriebataillone total. 

THE ARDENNES OFFENSIVE

This newly reformed Volksgrenadier-Division was a part of LXXXV. Armeekorps, and fell in with the 7.Armee.  The 7.Armee was under the command of General der Panzertruppe Erich Brandenburger.  The 7.Armme makeup consisted of:

The 7.Armee made the southern most push during the Ardennes Offensive (the Battle of the Bulge) towards Luxembourg.  The main objective of the southern push was to reach Luxembourg and protect the flank from any Allied counterattacks.  The three Infantry Divisions of 7.Armee pushed west 4 miles before meeting stiff resistance from the U.S. VIII Corps.  The 5. Fallschirmjäger-Div. managed to get 12 miles west on the inner flank of the push.  There was no armored support for 7.Armee, so the initial advance was stopped fairly easily by American troops.  

The 352.Volksgrenadier-Division's major engagements in the Offensive occurred  in and around Diekirch and Ettelbruck. 

The push in the south, although stopped initially, managed to move again by the second week of the offensive and posed a threat to Allied lines.  On 23 December 1944, there was heavy fighting in Merzig and a large portion of the Division was captured or destroyed there.  Only when the U.S. 80th Infantry Divison was reinforced with armor from the U.S. 702nd Tank Battalion were the Germans defeated on the southern front of the Offensive.

Ultimately, the Ardennes Offensive as a whole failed, and again, the 352nd was decimated by losing men to casualties and being captured as prisoners.   

THE 352nd IN BATTLE IN GERMANY

After the defeat in the Ardennes, the 352.Volksgrenadier-Division was recalled to Germany to be refit and resupplied.  It was then placed under the command of General Bazing.  It was refitted with men from the 66.Volksgrenadier-Regiment, 99th Security Regiment and what was left of the 9th Infantry Division.  It's next deployment  was to defend the area around Trier (Germany) and Moselle (France).  Fighting and Allied bombing effectively destroyed what was left of the Division again by mid-March 1945.  Only a small remnant of the Division escaped across the Rhine at Worms as American forces advanced.

The 352nd was partially reconstructed one last time as a small battle group in mid-April and deployed to defend Darmstadt, south of Remagen.  It's last battles were during a part of the Rhineland Campaign, as the Allies pushed in the south to reach the Elbe.  The 352nd Infantry Division's career as a fighting unit ended in the Rhineland at the end of the War.  They surrendered to American forces near Nuremberg in May 1945. 

SOURCES