VE DAY – 75th ANNIVERSARY
the advancing British and Canadians. The small city of Lüneburg in Lower Saxony, 50 kilometres southeast of Hamburg, had been captured on April 18, 1945.
The headquarters of 21st Army Group had been established in the Villa Möllering in the village of Häcklingen.
It was here that a German delegation arrived with an offer of surrender on May 3.
Initially the Germans had wanted to negotiate a partial surrender of a small number of their forces, but their offer was rejected.
Montgomery demanded a total, unconditional surrender of all forces on his northern and western flanks. When the Germans hesitated, Montgomery was unequivocal, and is reported to have said: “If you do not agree to the ... surrender, then I will go on with the war and I will be delighted to do so.”
This was agreed the next day, and on May 4, 1945, Montgomery accepted the unconditional surrender of the German forces in northwest Germany, the
Netherlands, Denmark and Schleswig-Holstein. But this did not end the Second World War in Europe.
That only came with the signing of the German Instrument of Surrender, which took place first at Reims on May 7, then again in the early hours of May 9 at Karlshorst in eastern Berlin, this time with representatives of the Soviet Union High Command present.
Wednesday, May 8, had been designated as Victory in Europe Day.
Europe was – officially at least – at peace.
For Germany, it was “Stunde Null”, Hour Zero, marking the end of the Second World War and the beginning of a new era.
As Montgomery said in his message to British and Canadian troops on that day: “We have now won the German war. Let us now win the peace.”
On August 25, 1945, 21st Army Group was renamed the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR).
It was responsible for the occupation and administration of the British Zone of a divided Germany.
However, as relations with the Soviet Union deteriorated rapidly in the aftermath of victory in the Second World War, it eventually formed the core of the British forces responsible for the defence of West Germany during the Cold War (1945-89).