May, 8: The great news for which the world has awaited-the unconditional surrender of Germany to the three major Allies-was announced by Mr Churchill in a broadcast from London early this morning.
The formal proclamation of V-Day, which sounded the "Cease Fire" in Europe, was made simultaneously in Moscow and Washington.
This momentous climax to the utter defeat of the German armies in the field followed a week of sensational happenings, during which great sections of a Wehrmacht, totalling upwards of 250,000 men, surrendered unconditionally to the Western Allies.
After nearly six years of Nazi domination the free peoples of Europe again unfurled their flags.
On D-Day, June 6, 1944, when the armies of General Eisenhower landed in Normandy they were separated from the Russian forces by 1500 miles of enemy-occupied territory.
In the short space of 11 months the Allied armies had swept across heavily-defended country, crushing all resistance, and had joined hands on the River Elbe in the very heart of Germany. The Red Army had taken Berlin; Alexander had forced the Germans in Italy to capitulate, and Montgomery's Armies had brought about a complete enemy collapse in north-western Europe. History has no record of such a brilliant and decisive military victory.
The Allies had imposed their will on Germany. They had taken up arms in the cause of freedom when it became clear that only by force could the Nazi dream of world domination be dispelled, and they had accomplished their task.
May 7: The correspondent of the Associated Press in Reims says that the surrender to the Western Allies and Russia was signed at 2.41 a.m. today in the Reims schoolhouse, which General Eisenhower was using as his headquarters.
General Eisenhower did not attend the signing of the surrender, but received the two German generals, who assured him that they fully understood the terms of surrender and would comply with them. It is stated that General Eisenhower preserved a stern demeanour throughout.
Early this afternoon the Flensburg radio announced that Grand-admiral Doenitz had ordered the unconditional surrender of all German fighting troops.
The order, which purported to be signed by the new German Foreign Minister, Count Schwerin von Krosigk, said: "German men and women, the High Command of the armed forces has today, on the order of the Grand-admiral Doenitz, declared the unconditional surrender of all the fighting forces.
"Germany has succumbed to the overwhelming power of her enemies. To continue the war would mean only further bloodshed and futile disintegration.
"It is the noblest task of Admiral Doenitz and the Government supporting him, after the terrible sacrifices which the war had demanded, to save in the last phase of the lives of the maximum number of our fellow-countrymen. In the gravest hour of the German nation and the Reich we bow deep in reverence before the dead of this war. Their sacrifices place the highest obligations on us. Our sympathy goes out above all to the wounded and the bereaved, all upon whom the struggle has inflicted blows. No one must be under any illusions about the severity of the terms to be imposed on the German people by our enemies. We must face our fate squarely and unquestioningly."