The division was formed in November 1943 as part of Wehrkreis XI (military district 11), headquartered in the city of Hannover. The division cadre were survivors of the following units:
268th Infantry Division
Home stationed at Munich, Wehrkreis VII
Contained the 468th, 488th, and 499th Grenadier Regiments.
1939: Reserve unit, activated; 1939-1940: Saar Front; 1941-1943: Eastern Front, fought in the battle of Yelna Bend before Moscow, then at Rzhev and Kursk. Elements fought at Cholm and Demyansk
321st Infantry Division
Home stationed at Hannover,WehrkreisXI.
Contained the 588th, 589th, and 590th Grenadier Regiments.
1940: Activated at Abbeville; Dec. 1942: Eastern Front, part
of Army Group Center, fought at Kursk, suffered heavy losses.
546th Grenadier Regiment
Part of the 389th Inf Div, home stationed at Hesse, Wehrkreis XII. 1941-1942: Eastern Front, fought in the winter drive to and across the Don River, fought at the Volga River, then at Stalingrad. The survivors from Stalingrad formed the cadre for the 1st and 2nd battalions of the 916th Grenadier Regiment.
Soldiers down to the rank of even Obergrenadier (i.e., PFC) were hardened Eastern Front veterans. They were then transferred to France, and assigned large numbers of Volksdeutsch recruits: Polish- and Czech-Germans, Alsatians (French-Germans), and Russian volunteers (so-called White Russians, or POA). Covering a wide frontage, they effectively formed the backbone of Army Group B, commanded by none other than the famed Desert Fox, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. Rommel placed the 352. Infantriedivision at Normandy, between the 709. Infantriedivision at Cherbourg and the 716. Infantriedivision at Caen. Both of these units were so-called fortress divisions, with large contingents of Ostbattalions (far-eastern troops captured earlier in the war during the invasion of Russia, then drafted to help man the Atlantic Wall); they would quickly crumble during the initial Allied assault. The group's armoured reserve was the 21. Panzerdivision, also in the area of Caen. The 352. Infantriedivision, commanded by Lt. Gen. Dietrich Kraiss, then consisted of the following:
914th, 915th, and 916th Grenadier Regiments
352nd Artillery Regiment, which included 3 battalions of 105mm guns, and 1 battalion of 150mm guns
352nd Fusilier Battalion
352nd Panzerjäger Battalion, including 14 Marder IIs , 10 StuG IIIGs, and Opels mounting 37mm guns
352nd Pioneer Battalion
352nd Signal Battalion
352nd Reconnaissance Battalion, predominantly utilizing bicycles and horses
Once the campaign got under way, the 352.Infantriedivision immediately absorbed all troops within its sector, including Luftwaffe Flak troops and Labor Service personnel (RAD). Still, it was not enough to stop the onslaught. The division suffered heavy losses, both killed and taken prisoner, from the enormous Allied ground attack. An even more deadly fate was the constant, terrifying threat of Jabos... Allied fighter-bombers, who attacked any daylight movement, even individual men, unfortunate enough to be caught out in the open.
Acquitting themselves well, they were pulled back and sent to Denmark for refitting. When the British 1st Airborne Division landed at Arnhem, Holland, they helped stop the Allied XXX Corps from linking up with the 1st Airborne Division. Elements of the 352nd then engaged the U.S.101st Airborne Division at Nijmegen. Refitted again after, they were assigned the southern flank of the failed Ardennes Offensive (the Battle of the Bulge) in December, 1944. By 1945, the division was engaged in the Rhineland campaign south of Remagen, and ended the war defending Trier. They surrendered to American forces near Nuremburg.
Courtesy of Mr Vince Milano
WebMaster
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