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, in the Normandy 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.

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.

The first band of obstacles – about 250 yards (750 ft) out from the waterline at high tide – consisted of 'Belgian Gates' – reinforced iron frames with supports that were built atop rollers.

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.

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 dispatched 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.

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.

Thereafter, it fought defensively around Trier and the Moselle 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 at Worms.