Hi,
I'm planning a diorama depicting US 101st Airborne figures on D-Day (1/35th scale) & would like to place a German tank in it.
Am I correct in saying that the 101st went up against the German 352nd Infantry Division on D-Day?

Would a Stug III Ausf G be correct for time & place?

Early or late Stug III?

Are there any decals out there for the 352nd Infantry Division?

What options do I have for kits of this vehicle? (From best/expensive to budget).

Thank you for your help.

Joe.

101st men were spread all throughout the Normandy peninsula after their air drop. The German 352nd ID manned significant parts of the Atlantik Wall defenses that faced the seaborne invasion at Omaha and Utah. One of the 352nd reserve regiments were tasked to search the areas behind the beaches to clear out 101st soldiers.

Did the 101st encounter any 352 ID Sturmgeschutzen? The 352nd ID had 10 StuG III ausf G assigned to the Panzerjager Abteilung. In the confusion of the first few days, I recall French tankettes operated by the 100th Pz Bn and elements of the 17th SSPzGren Div counterattacking positions held by the 101st. There were other encounters against small elements of German AFVs but nothing concrete about 352nd vehicles comes to fore.

May I recommend "The 101st Airborne at Normandy" by Mark Bando? It's available for $9 shipped via www.bookfinder.com

As for kit suggestions, you simply must go DML. The exact variant that the 352nd may have had still needs to be determined. However:

DML 6320 early StuG III G is a possibility
DML 6365 early Stug III G with Schrzen is probably your best bet
DML 6581 is possible but probably late
DML 6633 would be too late.

The venerable Tamiya 35197 is a stalwart. Not as detailed as the DML kits above but a good, simple and pretty accurate kit.

Hi Roy,
Well, that's a pretty informative heads-up you've given me there!
I was aware that there were mis-drops right across the Normandy countryside but I just assumed that the US Airborne weren't up against the SS (however, I must add, I'm taking this info from something I read about the film 'Saving Private Ryan' which said there were no SS units in the American sector around the time of the landings & D+ a few days).
Can you help me then, with German units in the US sector during D-Day & a few days after?
I thought all SS units in the area were involved against the Brits up around Caen.
I don't necessarily need to build a vehicle from the 352nd; it's just that I read they were in the area at the time.
What I don't want is to build a diorama & then have somebody say that it is historically inaccurate.
Thanks again, for your help.

Joe.

A series of photos comes to mind of some knocked out German armor during a counter-attack on St. Mere Eglise around mid-day of D-Day. One of the photos was a knocked out StuG on a country road (of course, one country road in Normandy looks like a thousand other country roads in Normandy ) I don't remember where the photo was posted as I lost a whole bunch of files. Try a Google search on St. Mere Eglise - I think that's how I found the pic originally. Google is my #1 reference source.

Joe,
As Roy says, 17th SS Panzergrenadier "Gotz von Berlichingen" were involved in a counter-attack on 101st Airborne to try and retrieve Carentan, in support of 6th FJR. However most photos suggest that 17SS had Stug IV rather than Stug III (best bet still DML of course). Please note that 17SS was a Panzergrenadier (armoured infantry) division, so the only armour it had was the Stugs. The only other SS unit to fight on the American sector prior to the Mortain counterattack (Unternehmen Luttich) was 2SS "Das Reich", after it arrived from the South of France via Oradour-sur-Glane and Tulle. Despite SPR, Das Reich had no Tigers at this time.
The divisional emblem of 17SS was a mailed fist, this represented the artificial hand of the Germanic knight the unit was named for.

Echoing Steve, this StuG IV kit has markings specificly for the 17th SS in Normandy.



I've built it too. Great kit. Interior was a pain and there's the usual misnumbering in the directions sheet. But it does build up to a fantastic kit and is pretty affordable.

-Conor

What do you consider affordable?

The least expensive one on Ebay sold for $55.00 (including shipping)

Whoa. Got mine off scale hobbyist for $37... Looks like it's $42 now. When it comes to DML my definition of affordable tends to be vary. $55 is too much for me though.

A knocked out StuGlll near St. mere Eglise
http://www.dday-overlord.com/img/archives/manche/sainte_mere_eglise/12_sainte_mere_eglise_1944_bataille_normandie.jpg

Another knocked out StuG. According to the caption near the same location.
http://www.dday-overlord.com/img/archives/manche/sainte_mere_eglise/22_sainte_mere_eglise_1944_bataille_normandie.jpg
Unfortunately no info on which division. The captions do say both StuGs were knocked out by J. Atchley of Co. H, 505 PIR, 82nd Airborne. Not exactly 101st AB, but then they were pretty well mixed up all over their drop zones.

Is it just me or does that first StuG not have zimmerit? I had thought all of the StuGs and other German tanks came with them until September of 44? I know I'm probably wrong hahaha. The second one looks to have had nearly all of it burnt away. Just an observation.

I think there is zimmerit, just not very visible in the poor quality pic. Just below where the commander's hatch should be is a light patch with raggedy edges; the rest of the vehicle has paint as evidenced by the cross on the side. I think that is where the zimmerit has been knocked off. I was also going to add that it might be a rebuilt early model from the lack of commander's copula, but on closer inspection I think the roof section has been completely blown off by internal explosion.

I keep comparing the two pics and am wondering if they are the same vehicle??

Conor: Zimmerit was applied to German fighting vehicles that were produced from December 1943 to 9 September 1944. Generally vehicles already in service did not always receive Zimmerit as it was generally added directly in the factory. The Stug III ausf. G was being produced as early as December 1942 so there would have been a large number of Stugs without Zimm.

Biggles2: I am almost certain that those two photos are of the same vehicle. the rubble on the road infront of it and the telephone pole behind it are identical in both photos.

Cheers
Tristan

I agree, a lot of the identifying details are similar: the bocage lined road, a tall bush near the Stug, the telephone pole, and the rubble suggest it's the same vehicle. But the StuG in the second pic looks a lot more burned out - could be a trick of the light conditions, or even taken days later and the vehicle was actually burned.