May 8, 1945: V-E Day

May 8, 1945: Nazi Germany surrenders to the Allies. President Harry S Truman makes the announcement: It is Victory in Europe Day, or V-E Day.

Nazi Germany's surrender was authorized by Adolf Hitler's appointed successor as head of state, Reichspräsident Karl Dönitz, an Admiral. His administration was known as the Flensburg Government.

The act of military surrender was first signed at 2:41 AM on May 7 in SHAEF (Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force) headquarters in Reims, France. A slightly modified document, considered the definitive German Instrument of Surrender, was signed on May 8 in Karlshorst, Berlin, at 10:43 PM local time. It read as follows:

The German High Command will at once issue orders to all German military, naval and air authorities and to all forces under German control to cease active operations at 23.01 hours Central European time on 8 May 1945. 

Russia and some countries formerly in the Soviet Union celebrate V-E Day on May 9, as Germany's unconditional surrender entered into force at 11:01 PM on May 8, Central European Summer Time (6:01 PM, U.S. Eastern Time), and this corresponded with 12:01 AM on May 9, Moscow Time.

In Britain, though Winston Churchill ran the government as Prime Minister, crowds in London rushed to Buckingham Palace, chanting "We want the King!" Hearing it, King George VI, exhausted and aged by the war well beyond his 49 years, said, "The King wants his dinner." But he soon appeared on the balcony, in his Royal Navy uniform, with his wife Queen Elizabeth, and their daughters, Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret. Churchill soon appeared with them, with Minister of Labour Ernest Bevin leading the crowd in a singing of "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow."

(In Britain, the refrain to that chant is, "And so say all of us!" In America, it's "Which nobody can deny!")

In the United States, the event coincided with Truman's 61st birthday. He dedicated the victory to the memory of his predecessor, Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had died 26 days earlier. American flags remained at half-staff for the remainder of the 30-day mourning period. Great celebrations took place in many American cities, especially in New York's Times Square.

V-E Day also marked the liberation of Norway and Denmark. The Netherlands had been liberated on May 5.

World War II would continue for another 98 days -- 14 weeks -- until the Empire of Japan surrendered on August 14, which became known as V-J Day.

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May 8, 1945, V-E Day, was a Tuesday. It was also the day that one of the Allies, France, carried out the Sétif and Guelma massacre, leading to the Algerian War of Independence. I have a separate entry for that event.

The NFL was in its off-season. The NHL had recently completed its season. The NBA had not yet been founded. Major League Baseball had only 2 games scheduled for that day:

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Chicago White Sox, 7-1 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

* The St. Louis Browns beat the Washington Senators, 7-1 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis.