In the seventh Countdown to D-Day officer bio, Peter Margaritis explores the life of Dietrich Kraiss and his role in one of the bloodiest battles in Normandy, Omaha Beach.
Generalleutnant Dietrich Kraiss, born in Stuttgart in 1889, was a distinguished, seasoned World War I veteran. He commanded the 90th Infantry Regiment in the Polish invasion, and later the 168th Infantry Division and then the 355th Infantry Division in the 1941 invasion of Russia. In November 1943, Generalleutnant Kraiss took command of the new 352nd Infantry Division, which had been created by combining the shattered remnants of three other divisions that had suffered terribly on the Russian Front.
Kraiss’s division was relocated to Normandy, and in March 1944, moved up to the coast to take over the left flank that the stretched-thin 716th Grenadier Division had been covering, the Calvados beach defences. Allied intelligence did not discover the move until it was too late, so when the Americans were to land at Omaha Beach, they would be in for a shockingly strong response from this seasoned unit.
In the early hours of June 6th, General Marcks informed Kraiss that strong Allied airborne forces had landed inland, south of Carentan. Fearing this an attempt to split the German defensive line, Kraiss summoned his regimental commanders at 3:15 a.m. to update them. Then he reviewed the positions of their two regiments on the beach: the 914th was on the left, and the 916th was on the right. His third, Oberstleutnant Karl Meyer’s 915th with 1,750 men, was his current reserve.
He briefed them all on the airborne landings and then told the 914th and 916th commanders to prepare their men for a probable landing around dawn. He then ordered Meyer to lead his Kampfgruppe away from Bayeux and probe behind their division’s left around the Cerisy Forest for the reported paratroopers. Transportation would be difficult. As an afterthought, Kraiss told him to take the Panzerjäger battalion with him.
One thing was critical, Kraiss stressed. If Meyer’s men did not meet any real resistance and the invasion came, they were to return as fast as possible to the coast to augment the two regiments there. So Meyer had to stay in contact with division headquarters by radio, even though their radio equipment was sparse and unreliable. Meyer nevertheless acknowledged and promised that he would stay in touch.
At 0830 hours, Kraiss frantically called General Marcks on the phone. His units, understrength to begin with, were taking heavy casualties and starting to run low on ammunition. Naval gunfire and air support continued taking their toll on the defenders. While the enemy was still pinned down on the beaches, Kraiss did not think that he could keep them there much longer. The Americans had also taken severe losses, but they just kept landing more and more men, scurrying across the open ground, jamming themselves in at the base of the cliffs. Some were probing the heights above, and a few had even made it to the top. Sooner or later, the Americans would break out.
Marcks asked about Meyer’s regiment, and Kraiss cursed in reply. He had ordered them to the rear several hours ago to check out those damned paratroop reports and had not come back yet. He had tried to get a hold of Meyer several times by radio, but evidently, Meyer’s radio was not working. Now Kraiss had scouts out looking for them.
Marcks replied that when he got a hold of Meyer, to order him to split his regiment into two battlegroups. One was to race back to beaches on their western flank to bolster the 914th Regiment. The other was to move up to the centre and engage the left flank of the British beachhead at Gold, giving the 726th Regiment some help northeast of Bayeux.
Kraiss finally got a hold of Meyer around 9 a.m. and ordered him to divide his unit, as Marcks had ordered. But as the two battalions moved towards the coast, Allied fighters, now able to see better at midday as the weather continued clearing, pounced upon the widely-spaced groups. Each unit took casualties as they slowly struggled to their destinations. Around 3 P.M., Meyer sent Kraiss a message that the Allies seemed to be expecting an enemy counterattack and were ready for him. Allied tanks formations were slicing through his units. It was the last message he ever sent. Meyer was killed shortly thereafter.
Kraiss’ casualties at the end of the day were about 1,200 men, roughly a fifth of those on the line. Units in beach positions had been mostly wiped out. They still had enough strength to possibly beat back enemy attacks the following day, but he immediately needed supplies and above all, reinforcements.
By D-Day+1, Kraiss reported that his division was spent, and was no longer effective. Three days later, Kraiss was permitted to withdraw to a new line on the Elle River with the remnants of his division: about 2,500 men.
Kraiss continued to command his reduced division until August 2nd when he was seriously wounded in fighting near St Lô. He died of his wounds on 6 August. Five days later, he was posthumously awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves.
Dietrich Kraiss and his role in the defence of the Atlantic Wall is explored in the new book, Countdown to D-Day, due to be released June 2019.
Follow