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Which Allied unit or ship engaged the artillery batteries of 352 Infantry Division on D Day

Discussion in 'Western Europe 1943 - 1945' started by Sheldrake, May 23, 2019.

  1. Sheldrake

    Sheldrake Member

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    The allies were not aware of the presence of soldiers from 352nd Infantry division at Omaha beach before D Day. Presumably, the allies were not aware of the locations of the 352 Division's artillery batteries either, and were not in the D Day Fireplan.
    Is there any evidence of the allies locating the batteries of the 352nd on D Day and engaging any of them?
     
  2. RichTO90

    RichTO90 Well-Known Member

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    Not exactly. They were aware that the 352. Inf.-Div. had moved from its concentration area at St Lo to reinforce the beach positions, but not exactly which units nor where.

    Exactly. They moved up into camouflaged field positions rather than fixed positions, which were targeted in the fire plan. Unfortunately, while we know the general positions of Pluskat's three batteries and the attached 15cm battery from IV. Abteilung, we do not have exact locations. It would be possible to plot their general locations, convert that to grids locations, and then compare them to the fire plan.

    Locating no. Engaging probably. Much of the fire after the pre-planned engagement was at targets of opportunity. Interestingly, Frankford describes engaging a target in a clump of trees near the Formigny to Vierville-sur-Mer road near 653903, which might have been a battery position, but none of Pluskat's guns appear to have been there. I haven't gone through the other ships action reports to see if there are any other possibilities.
     
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