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-- May 8, 1945: Victory in Europe Day
May 8, 1945: Victory in Europe Day
ACT OF MILITARY SURRENDER
1. We the undersigned, acting by authority of the German High Command, hereby surrender unconditionally to the Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force and simultaneously to the Supreme High Command of the Red Army all forces on land, at sea, and in the air who are at this date under German control.
2. The German High Command will at once issue order to all German military, naval and air authorities and to all forces under German control to cease active operations at 2301 hours Central European time on 8th May 1945, to remain in all positions occupied at that time and to disarm completely, handing over their weapons and equipment to the local allied commanders or officers designated by Representatives of the Allied Supreme Commands. No ship, vessel, or aircraft is to be scuttled, or any damage done to their hull, machinery or equipment, and also to machines of all kinds, armament, apparatus, and all the technical means of prosecution of war in general.
3. The German High Command will at once issue to the appropriate commanders, and ensure the carrying out of any further orders issued by the Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force and by the Supreme Command of the Red Army.
4. This act of military surrender is without prejudice to, and will be superseded by any general instrument of surrender imposed by, or on behalf of the United Nations and applicable to GERMANY and the German armed forces as a whole.
5. In the event of the German High Command or any of the forces under their control failing to act in accordance with this Act of Surrender, the Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force and the Supreme High Command of the Red Army will take such punitive or other action as they deem appropriate.
6. This Act is drawn up in the English, Russian and German languages. The English and Russian are the only authentic texts.
Signed at Berlin on the 8 day of May, 1945
Von Friedeburg Keitel Stumpff
On behalf of the German High Command IN THE PRESENCE OF:
A.W.Tedder On behalf of the Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force
Georgi Zhukov On behalf of the Supreme High Command of the Red Army
At the signing also were present as witnesses:
F. de Lattre-Tassigny General Commanding in Chief First French Army
Carl Spaatz General, Commanding United States Strategic Air Force
mustve been a good day 
It was kinda expected though, but still cool obviously to be finally over.
These big days in history sometimes people were just chilling out about it.
I remember asking my grandad what he was doing on D-Day, he was in the navy so I thought he'd be involved, you know what he said
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| Strawberrys and ice cream, I was eating strawberrys and ice cream on a luxury boat filled with WRENS (women) going up and down the thames river. |
Enjoy the day.
My dad was a radio operator on a Sunderland Flying Boat during WW2, he was based in Singapore from 1943 to the end of the war, he joined the RAF in 1942 and was based in Lancashire England, he was 19 years of age when he joined up.
The aircraft that he flew in was a long range reconnaisance aircraft and this was his primary mission during WW2, the aircraft could fly for about 15 to 20 hours nonstop depending on conditions and had a range of 3000 miles, there was a crew of about 10 and and they flew most days for about 6 hours tracking shipping, but other times they flew much longer missions.
He said that at nightime when the boat was moored 2 people had to sleep on it, the crew took it in turns, to get the aircraft onto land was a big operation so it was usually moored on the water. When the aircraft was moored during gales or bad weather a pilot had to be on board because the engines were used to steer the plane and stop it from unmooring or getting damaged, he said he was glad he wasnt a pilot because sometimes they had to spend hours doing this.
After the war was over he stayed in the RAF until 1947 on land this time where he guarded Japanease prisioners in Burma.
My dad died in 1994, but i have many photos of him from that period, i also have a japanease infantry officers hat as an interesting momento.
My granddad was the commander of a partizan mountaneering artillery batallion in central Bosnia and later in eastern Croatia. After that region was liberated, he was in charge of it until the end of the war. He was seriously wounded 3 times, two times he was shot by italians, and the third time his subordinate found a bomb beneath a bridge and decided that if he cuts the wires, the bomb will be defused. So it blew up and killed hiim and a few people around him 
Oh and he once killed an SS trooper and took his gun so we have that at home as a souvenir. He actually had a small street named after him in the southern part of Zagreb, but the damn HDZ government in the 1990s renamed all the streets comemorating the partizan fight including that one 
His brother in law, on the other hand, was an SS trooper, but he managed to escape the persecution and a pretty certain death because my granddad intervened.
And my ohter grandfather was in the domobrans. That was the army here that pretty much didn't know who to fight for, so they just surrendered to whomever got to them first.
Well, anyways, happy v-day to all you antifascist freedom fighters out there 
Both my Grandads worked down the pit! (Well somebody had to!)
What do they call the day in Germany?
Seriously though this is probably the single worst event in the history of mankind. Lets hope it never happens again.
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| Originally posted by stamper What do they call the day in Germany? Seriously though this is probably the single worst event in the history of mankind. Lets hope it never happens again. |
A relative of mine was a British army cook in India at the time - lied about his age and joined aged 14. The war was over ten days before they got word of it. Can't imagine there having been much action in India?
One of my grandfathers served in the Jewish Brigade during WWII, seeing fighting in Italy and France. My other grandfather worked in labor camps and survived through Auschwitz among other camps ending up in Belgium in an allied-run camp before going to Israel and staying in a British run-camp on Cyprus.
Since we're all talking about what our grandparents did during the war...
My paternal grandmother came down from Glasgow to Stoke-on-Trent to work for the army in a mailing room. My paternal grandfather was a postman in the same city. This was how they met, so it goes without saying: if it wasn't for Hitler and his insane imperialistic rampages, I wouldn't exist (thanks Adolf!). I'm not sure what my maternal grandmother did during the war, but her first husband (and the father of my oldest maternal aunt) was a pilot in the airforce. He survived the war, but died in a plane crash during a storm in the early 50s. My maternal grandfather (i.e. the man my maternal grandmother remarried to give birth to my mother and her other sisters) was a train-driver during the war.
If we go back to WW1, then my paternal great-grandfather served in the trenches. Although my dad isn't too sure about what his grandfather experienced during that time, it was one of the unwritten laws of his childhood that - whenever he went to his grandfathers house - (to quote John Cleese) "Whatever you do, don't mention the war!" Now that I think about it, I should really probe my parents on my family history, because they've lived through some interesting times.
If this was too off-topic, then perhaps we could talk about the jingoistic, divisive and overtly militant messages that Bush has been propogating during the past few days. On what should be an occasion to celebrate the victory of peace over war and bloodshed, he takes the opportunity to tour Europe (reminding each nation in turn precisely how America won their freedom, naturally), selling his recent miltary campaigns, shitting all over the Russians and stirring up old divisions and rivalries. Suffice to say, the man (or, rather, the men who write his speeches) just doesn't get it...
VE Day didn't come until October 3, 1990.
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| Originally posted by ShadoWolf VE Day didn't come until October 3, 1990. |
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| Originally posted by George Smiley Both my Grandads worked down the pit! (Well somebody had to!) |
During the war we couldn't have fires because the bombers would bomb (following the light of the fires to the houses) us so people had to work down in the pit turning big wheels to generate electricity for heating and so on.
It was very harsh labour. Not many people know about it these days because most of them died.
Does that explain it? I can try to find a link if you want.
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| Originally posted by ogvh5150 Enlighten us Americans. |
One of my grandpas busted out of a POW camp. And the other was "asked" to help the Germans in rail road repair and maintenance.
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| Originally posted by DrUg_Tit0 Eh, what the surrender of nazi germany? Yeah, imagine the great world of national socialism, my heart is shaking with delight from a mere mention of that idea |
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| Originally posted by Yoepus One of my grandfathers served in the Jewish Brigade during WWII, seeing fighting in Italy and France. My other grandfather worked in labor camps and survived through Auschwitz among other camps ending up in Belgium in an allied-run camp before going to Israel and staying in a British run-camp on Cyprus. |
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| Originally posted by Dervish During the war we couldn't have fires because the bombers would bomb (following the light of the fires to the houses) us so people had to work down in the pit turning big wheels to generate electricity for heating and so on. It was very harsh labour. Not many people know about it these days because most of them died. Does that explain it? I can try to find a link if you want. |
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| Originally posted by George Smiley They worked down coal mines pushing a big wheel around to generate electricity |
Took ages to find.
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| The Peoples Land Army, and its associated organisation, the Peoples Timber Corps, ploughed the fields, looked after cattle, sheep and poultry, caught rats, undertook the hazardous job of lumberjack and pit based manual power generation, largely unrecognised since the end of WW2 (they were not demobbed at the end of the war because the food situation was still critical, and in fact carried on up to around 1950, when rationing began to ease), they probably were one of the key reasons the UK survived the food and raw materials shortages (bones for example are used to make explosives). We stock what PLA items we can find, and thankfully today, although again ignored by government during anniversary parades, many people can be seen in their distinctive uniform at shows and dances around the UK and even in the USA! |
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| Originally posted by Dervish Took ages to find. >>>LINK<<< PLA differnt meaning back then eh? |
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| Originally posted by ogvh5150 Thank you. A link would be great. |
what.... I put one of thouse (disbelief) things in the post and if he clicks on the link he'll see that I "edited" somewhat the content of the quote. 
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| pit based manual power generation |
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