VE Day Eve

May 7

[80 years ago today] "• Following General of the Army Eisenhower’s threat to close the front, Dönitz authorizes Generaloberst Alfred Jodl full powers to sign the unconditional German Instrument of Surrender at 1:30 am on the morning of 07 May, to be effective one minute after midnight 08 May, 1945.

- Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force sends a simple message to the Combined Joint Chiefs of Staff:

“THE MISSION OF THIS ALLIED FORCE WAS FULFILLED AT 0241 LOCAL TIME MAY 7TH 1945 – EISENHOWER”

• Dönitz approves all nominations for Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and their higher grades which are still pending review and approval.

• In Austria, American tanks sink two Artilleriefährprahms and river minesweeper Oder in the Danube.

• Dönitz orders all u-boats to immediately halt offensive operations.

• Third Guards Tank Army, Fifth Guards Army, and Second Polish Army begin an assault on Dresden.

• German troops from Heersgruppe Mitte attempt to retake Prague with tanks and panzergrenadiers, putting enormous pressure on the beleaguered resistants. Generalfeldmarschall Ferdinand Schörner denounces the German surrender and says it doesn’t apply to German forces fighting the Soviets or Czech “terrorists”. German troops are killing civilians and looting homes, and using other civilians as human shields during the fighting.

Civilian victims of the Germans at Masaryk station

- The last Luftwaffe attack of the war occurs with German aircraft attacking Prague.

- During the battle, the 1st Infantry Division of the Russian Liberation Army (Wehrmacht’s 600. (Russische) Infanterie-Division) which has also been killing Czech civilians abruptly switches sides and fights against the Germans, perhaps hoping at the last moment that aiding the Allies will lessen their punishment for collaborating with the Germans.

- The RLA troops will flee Prague ahead of the Soviet Fourth Guards Tank Army and surrender to the Americans. As agreed at the Tehran Conference, they will be repatriated to the USSR. Former Red Army generals Andrey Vlasov and Sergei Bunyachenko will be hanged for treason in 1946 and all other members of the RLA sentenced to terms in labor camps.

• The Yugoslav 1st Proletarian Brigade suffers its bloodiest day of the war while taking Vrbovec from German and Ustaše troops, with 158 killed and 358 wounded.

• American units begin withdrawing their bridgeheads over the Elbe River as Soviet units meet up with them.

• In the late evening, U-1023 sinks Norwegian minesweeper NYMS-382 with a homing torpedo in the English Channel, with 22 crewmen killed.

• An hour before the surrender goes into effect at midnight, Type XXIII submarine U-2336 attacks convoy EN-591 off the Firth of Forth, sinking the Norwegian 1,800 ton Sneland I and the Canadian 2,900 ton Avondale Park. This is the last u-boat attack of the war.

Devastated Hanover industrial centre

Polish children receive soup from British in Hamburg - May or June 1945 - their until recently slave-laborer mother is behind them"

While the fighting will continue past 8 May in places (and against the Japanese), and my friend who is posting these elsewhere will continue probably for another year, I will no longer repost here, or participate (much) in the forum. I have been scarcely playing IL-2 for the past three years, and no longer care to continue playing flight sims. Thanks to my friend Stephen Jackson, whose information I have been reposting, and thanks to all that enjoyed these posts. Stephen has done an incredible job of gathering this information for many sources, and I think it was worthy of sharing his effort--CK.