I knew WWII was over 2 days before anyone else
Codebreaker Bernard, 100, to hold on to historic message
A D-DAY hero was sworn to secrecy after being told the Nazis had surrendered 48 hours before the official announcement.
And Bernard Morgan still has the telex sent from the Allies which said: “The German war is now over.” It arrived on the RAF codebreaker’s Typex machine in May 1945. It read: ”The German War is now over. At Rheims last night the instrument of surrender was signed which in effect is a surrender of all personnel of the German forces – all equipment, shipping and all machinery in Germany. “Nothing will be destroyed anywhere. The surrender is effective tomorrow. This news will not be communicated to anyone outside the service.” Bernard could not tell his friends and he kept the note, and his role in the war, hidden until secrecy documents he signed elapsed in 1994.
Now Bernard, who is 100 today, has vowed to keep the document. The ex-RAF sergeant, of Crewe, Cheshire, said: “The Imperial War Museum wanted the original but I’m keeping it for my family.”
He landed in Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944, aged 20, and was based near Hamburg when he got the code. He said: “It was a surprise. We couldn’t tell anybody until we got the final message to say the war in Germany was now over. “We had to decode it. It was nice to see no more soldiers, sailors or airmen were giving their lives.”
Bernard was with 83 Group Control Centre, attached to 2nd Tactical Air Force, controlling aircraft movements. He later worked on the railways and at Crewe FC.
The widower, a British Legion Ambassador, plans to return to Normandy for the 80th anniversary of D-Day. Daughter Sheila, 71, said: “We are incredibly proud of dad.”