Dec 1943 – Mar 1944
The 352ID arrived in St. Lo, (20 miles south-west of the Normandy landing beaches) on 5th December 1943 to start training its new recruits in anti-invasion tactics. Some of the NCOs were Russian Front veterans whilst most of the officers were combat experienced ex-NCOs, their knowledge and experience was passed down to the new men during the training.

The division had a strength of nearly 13,000 men and its full complement of weapons. In January 1944 the division moved north to the coast, to an area that would later be known as ‘Omaha Beach'. Anti-invasion training was at the heart of the divisions operations in early 1944 but considerable time was also spent working on the physical construction of anti-invasion defences.

The Division C.O. during this period was Generalleutnant Kraiß.