German armed forces surrendered unconditionally
on May 7. Hostilities in Europe ended officially at midnight,
May 8. 1945.
Yesterday morning at 2:41 a.m. at Headquarters,
General Jodl, the representative of the German High Command, and
Grand Admiral Doenitz, the designated head of the German State,
signed the act of unconditional surrender of all German Land,
sea, and air forces in Europe to the Allied Expeditionary Force,
and simultaneously to the Soviet High Command.
General Bedell Smith, Chief of Staff of the Allied
Expeditionary Force, and General Francois Sevez signed the document
on behalf of the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary
Force, and General Susloparov signed on behalf of the Russian
High Command.
Today this agreement will be ratified and confirmed
at Berlin, where Air Chief Marshal Tedder, Deputy Supreme Commander
of the Allied Expeditionary Force, and General de Lattre de Tassigny
will sign on behalf of General Eisenhower. Marshal Zhukov will
sign on behalf of the Soviet High Command. The German representatives
will be Field-Marshal Keitel, Chief of the High Command, and the
Commanders-in- Chief of the German Army, Navy, and Air Forces.
Hostilities will end officially at one minute
after midnight tonight (Tuesday, May 8), but in the interests
of saving lives the "Cease fire" began yesterday to
be sounded all along the front, and our dear Channel Islands are
also to be freed today.
The Germans are still in places resisting the
Russian troops, but should they continue to do so after midnight
they will, of course, deprive themselves of the protection of
the laws of war, and will be attacked from all quarters by the
Allied troops. It is not surprising that on such long fronts and
in the existing disorder of the enemy the orders of the German
High Command should not in every case be obeyed immediately. This
does not, in our opinion, with the best military advice at our
disposal, constitute any reason for withholding from the nation
the facts communicated to us by General Eisenhower of the unconditional
surrender already signed at Rheims, nor should it prevent us from
celebrating today and tomorrow (Wednesday) as Victory
in Europe days.
Today, perhaps, we shall think mostly of ourselves.
Tomorrow we shall pay a particular tribute to our Russian comrades,
whose prowess in the field has been one of the grand
contributions to the general victory.
The German war is therefore at an end. After
years of intense preparation, Germany hurled herself on Poland
at the beginning of September, 1939; and, in pursuance of our
guarantee to Poland and in agreement with the French Republic,
Great Britain, the British Empire and Commonwealth of Nations,
declared war upon this foul aggression. After gallant France
had been struck down we, from this Island and from our united
Empire, maintained the struggle single-handed for a whole year
until we were joined by the military might of Soviet
Russia, and later by the overwhelming power and resources
of the United States
of America.
Finally almost the whole world was combined against
the evildoers, who are now prostrate before us. Our gratitude
to our splendid Allies goes forth from all our hearts in this
Island and throughout the British Empire.
We may allow ourselves a brief period of rejoicing;
but let us not forget for a moment the toil and efforts that lie
ahead. Japan,
with all her treachery and greed, remains unsubdued. The injury
she has inflicted on Great Britain, the United States, and other
countries, and her detestable cruelties, call for justice and
retribution. We must now devote all our strength and resources
to the completion of our task, both at home and abroad. Advance,
Britannia! Long live the cause of freedom! God save the King!
[Note: After making his broadcast announcement
of Germany's unconditional surrender, Churchill read the same
statement to the House of Commons shortly afterwards and added]
That is the message which I have been instructed
to deliver to the British Nation and Commonwealth. I have only
two or three sentences to add. They will convey to the House my
deep gratitude to this House of Commons, which has proved itself
the strongest foundation for waging war that has ever been seen
in the whole of our long history. We have all of us made our mistakes,
but the strength of the Parliamentary institution has been shown
to enable it at the same moment to preserve all the title-deeds
of democracy while waging war in the most stern and protracted
form. I wish to give my hearty thanks to men of all Parties, to
everyone in every part of the House where they sit, for the way
in which the liveliness of Parliamentary institutions has been
maintained under the fire of the enemy, and for the way in which
we have been able to persevere-and we could have persevered much
longer if need had been-till all the objectives which we set before
us for the procuring of the unlimited and unconditional surrender
of the enemy had been achieved. I recollect well at the end of
the last war, more than a quarter of a century ago, that the House,
when it heard the long list of the surrender terms, the armistice
terms, which had been imposed upon the Germans, did not feel inclined
for debate or business, but desired to offer thanks to Almighty
God, to the Great Power which seems to shape and design the fortunes
of nations and the destiny of man; and I therefore beg, Sir, with
your permission to move:
That this House do now attend at the Church of
St. Margaret, Westminster, to give humble and reverent thanks
to Almighty God for our deliverance from the threat of German
domination.
This is the identical Motion which was moved
in former times.
