The first VE Day - 80 years ago

When we think of VE Day, we immediately think of the end of the war and the service personnel returning home. Sadly this wasn’t the end though, nor was it yet time to return home.

The end of WW2: Taking nothing for granted...

In spring 1945, as the war’s end began to crawl out of the abyss of six years fighting, the big question was whether the great link-up – between the forces of the west heading east in Germany and the forces of the Red Army advancing from the east – was to happen. Was there to be a general surrender from the German government?

Weeks before the final surrender, various high-ranking individuals from the German side started sending roundabout intimations of capitulation. This was some time before the death of Hitler himself and they were still fearful – even at this late stage of the war – of his wrath.

One of the early hints of German willingness to make a truce came via the British Embassy in Stockholm in neutral Sweden. The Germans were seeking a truce in the west so that all they had could be thrown against the Red Army advance from the east. This was denied. However in the following days and weeks, which led to the full surrender, the Germans continued to try to make a distinction between a surrender on the western front and a surrender on the eastern.

This plan of course, failed completely as it was deemed too politically sensitive to have the western forces surrender, and not the eastern. Also, it was seen as a threat to the cohesiveness of the “United Nations”* as the Allies were known. Rumblings of a Cold War, which would continue after the “Hot War” of 1939 to 1945, were already sounding. It was less than a year later that Churchill made his famous Iron Curtain Speech in Fulton, Missouri in the US describing the division of Europe; “From Stettin in the Baltic, to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent” – describing the Russian sphere of influence, separated from the “Free West.”

[* Note: The UN was established on 24 October 1945, following the signing of the Charter, www.un.org/en/about-us/history-of-the-un.]

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Spring 1945: Piecemeal German surrender at the end of WW2

German forces in Italy were the first to surrender on April 29th. The next day, Hitler committed suicide.

The German commanders in the north of Europe, including Holland and Denmark and northern Germany surrendered on 4th May. In the north of Italy, in the areas around Austria, the German Army Group G surrendered on 5th May.

These were all military surrenders and capitulations…It was not yet the wholesale unconditional surrender that was required. The Germans were seen to be playing for time so that as many troops as possible could be transferred behind the western allies lines, thus avoiding the Red Army. They were warned against doing this.

Hitler’s replacement as Führer, Admiral Doenitz, saw the end. His second, Field Marshal Jodl, signed the surrender instrument at 0241hrs on 7th May, instructing that all hostilities cease at midnight on the 8th. Jodl was then instructed by Eisenhower to ensure that the German commanders were to appear in Berlin to accomplish the formal surrender to the Russian Government.

On the morning of the 7th, the BBC announced on the radio that VE day was to be celebrated the following day.

Channel Islands' German occupation continued

In a small part of Britain, British subjects sat anxiously; still awaiting liberation from the German occupiers. HMS Bulldog and HMS Beagle were sent over to spearhead the liberation of the Channel Islands.

Due to the intransigence of the German Commander, it was not until the 9th that the Germans formally surrendered. The island of Sark was not liberated until 10th May, and Alderney then became one of the last places in Europe to be liberated, as it was not freed until 16th May.

As you can see, there was more to the end of the war in Europe than just VE Day, and there was still another problem..

There was also a war ongoing in the Far East against Japan…

Summer 1945: ongoing war with Japan

The Japanese military were not in any mood to capitulate after the fall of Nazi Germany.

In May 1945 after the end of the war in Europe, plans were emerging to flood the Far East with both men and materiel to ready the invasion of Japan. This meant that troops who had already been serving were not allowed to be demobbed …yet.

Note: We will return to the history of the Armed Forces in the Far East, the summer of 1945, and the lead up to and aftermath of VJ Day (15th August 1945) in the August issue of Family Tree, in a further article by Graham Bandy.

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But what of the British troops? Why didn’t they come home?

Interesting questions – with a multi-faceted set of answers!

For starters… a third of the British Army never left British shores. They remained for defence and for training, admin, hospital treatment and so forth.

Secondly by mid-1945, the “time expired men” (from the song “Bless ‘em All) were already coming home. These were the men who had enlisted pre-war for a fixed time period and not the duration. Thus their time in the forces had expired and – unless they wanted to sign back on (some did!) – they were sent home as “Duty Done”.

Next, we must consider the de-Nazification of the German populace, the trials of war criminals, and the rebuilding and occupation of the conquered lands. The all involved roles undertaken by British troops.

The British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) was a post-war occupation force, which quickly turned into a Cold War defensive force – ready to repel the hordes of the Red Army, which was seen as the main threat to Europe until the end of the Cold War.

What about National Servicemen?

Technically ALL service post-1939 was National Service.

After the end of the war, a number of senior non-commissioned officers (NCOs) and officers were kept, but the vast majority of the rank and file were now the youngsters who had grown up with the war or had even been evacuated early on, but had not actually served in the Second World War. They formed the nucleus of the new army.

As at the end of the Great War there was a move by the Government to emphasise the peace dividend and downsize operations. This was also applied at the end of the Second Great War. As such all the county line infantry regiments who had gone through the last two wars, and indeed since 1881, with two regular battalions were reduced to one battalion. The other, 2nd battalion, was put into “suspended animation”. This isn’t a science fiction term; it was the actual term used at the time!

A number of these regiments faced being axed altogether, but most soldiered on until 1960 and the time of the creation of the big area regiments, but that, dear reader, is another story for another time….

What were troops doing in the post-war occupied territories?

As mentioned, they were mainly there to ensure the de-Nazification of the populace, and to return normality to the areas, with properly elected governments, and a clamp-down on the highly efficient “Black Market” that had grown up during the war.

It was known that in Malta, for instance, that articles on ration in Britain were more than freely available from the street vendors in Valetta at the time! Also goods happened to “disappear” from the backs of army trucks (”It fell off the back of a lorry Guv…Honest!”).

One day in Naples, for example, a British Army lorry “lost” its entire load of Army issue blankets. The next day, the women of Naples appeared in brand new winter dresses made of …Army blankets. There was much consternation when the Military Police tried to reclaim these misappropriated items!

(You may have seen the film “The Third Man” about the Black Market in Vienna in 1947.)

Were the troops allowed to fraternise with the enemy?

Yes and no. Fraternisation was indeed banned immediately after the war, but, as time went on, lots of joint entertainments were allowed, via ENSA (Entertainments National Service Association) and the AKC (Army Kinema Corporation). This of course led to weddings.

How to learn more about your ancestors in the British Armed Forces & during the Second World War

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1. Get the June issue of Family Tree magazine, for part 1 in our indepth military history series by Graham Bandy. Order your copy here. (Free UK p&p)

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