Was OMAHA the blodyest landing of D Day?

Since we started speaking about Cornelius Ryan's books, has anyone read The Last Battle which tells the story of the battle for Berlin? What is your opinion on this one in comparison to the other two wartime books by Ryan?

I didn't read it. I have access to the book, but I don't think I have much time right now.

The landing on D Day was a succes.With great loses but still a succes.The MAIN porpose of the landing was not to establish some bridgeheads.That was an important porpose,the 1'st porpose,but not the MAIN one.The real porpose was the one that could not be achived in ONE day:to finally destroy the germans,2 send them away from Europe.
Now you can tell me:"well that was the porpose from the beging of the war".Yes,you are right,but the D Day succes landing was 2 be"the begining of the end"like Rommel said.
I have so many things 2 say about this day,but I will not!Still,the Allies had great luck there!
No german planes(maybe you'll not belive me,but only one plane attaked the Allies on the beaches),no panzer divisions,Rommel was not there(in my opinion nobody matched him in military tactics.Not even Montgomery),and more important nobody told him untill it was too late.Hitler heard about it many hours later and he was told that is nothing 2 worry about,that is just a diverting plan.
And much more...

"The victory is salvation!"

This post has been edited by GEKADOS_SS on November 02, 2004 11:53 pm

I have read "The Last Battle". I never read "A Bridge Too Far" cover-to-cover, but I have read "The Longest Day".

Basically, if you like his other two WW2 books, my feeling is you will like this too. The writing style and approach to history are similiar. The biggest difference is in the research. At the time he was writing (early 1970s I believe), no American researcher had access to the Soviet archives and sources to an extent comparable to his access to Western archives.

There is more of an emphasis on the political aspects than in the other two books, especially the growing tensions in the US-British-Soviet alliance. That said, I still like his treatment of the actual fighting in Berlin. The collapse of the Nazi regime is also interesting -- who surrenders when and to whom, what kinds of deals they try to make, etc.

Thanks for the information. I will then try to find some time for The Last Battle.