The Surrender

By 2 May 15 Army Group forces had occupied Italy. The country was entirely in our hands from Messina to the Brenner Pass, from the French border to Trieste. The Germans, cut to pieces, dazed, and despairing, laid down their arms on 2 May, adding 230,000 prisoners of war to those already taken, and raising the total bag to between 600,000 and 900,000 men.

On 7 May the BBC announced the complete surrender of all German forces in Europe, and the next day was celebrated as Victory-in-Europe Day (VE Day).