later as US tanks and the first wave of infantry landed on the beach to a hail of fire from the heavily fortified strongpoints. Throughout the morning the Americans received heavy casualties on the beach but by 13:00 groups of US soldiers were in possession of key fortifications, had reached some heights overlooking the beach, and opened several beach exits. 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. The 916th Grenadier Regiment and a mix of other units either already in place or brought forward throughout the day defended Omaha beach against the landings of the US 1st and 29th Divisions at Omaha Beach, holding the bluffs above the beach for several hours, inflicting heavy casualties, before being overwhelmed. The survivors of the 916 Grenadier battalion along with other units retreated in the morning hours of 7 June after the commander, Colonel Ernst Goth, could no longer hold the positions retaken in the night of 6/7 June. After the invasion The 352nd was shattered in the fighting during June and July 1944, and having taken heavy casualties by 30 July it was considered no longer capable of operating as a division, the survivors having been amalgamated into various ad hoc battle groups and other divisions. It was reformed as the 352nd Volksgrenadier Division in September 1944 and fought in the Battle of the Bulge. 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. It was partially reconstituted one last time as a battlegroup in mid-April and surrendered near Darmstadt. Werner Pluskat Major Werner Pluskat, who was featured in Cornelius Ryan's book The Longest Day, and the later movie of the same name, was in the 352nd Artillery (Artillerie Regiment) and fired his guns on Omaha Beach until he ran out of ammunition. He was forward observer on 'WN59 – Resistance Point 59' above the beach on the Eastern flank. Order of battle The 352nd's order of battle on the eve of the Allied Invasion was as follows (NB: the artillery component is also shown): 914. Grenadier Regiment 2 x 15 cm sIG 33 6 x 7.5 cm