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VE DAY 1945: How the war ended
  • (Original Caption) 5/11/1945-Luneburg Heath, Germany- In the 21st Army group headquarters at Luneburg Heath, Field Marshal, Bernard Montgomery, puts his signature to the document of unconditional surrender of German Forces in Holland, Northern Germany, and Denmark. The surr
  • Picture released on May 12, 1945 of German soldiers laying down arms after their surrender, during the Second World War. / AFP PHOTO / - (Photo credit should read -/AFP/Getty Images)
  • Britain's Prime Minister Winston Churchill, center, joins the royal family, from left, Princess Elizabeth, Queen Elizabeth, King George VI, and Princess Margaret, on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, London, England, on VE-Day on May 8, 1945. (AP Photo)
  • The Supreme Commander, Gen. Dwight Eisenhower and his party enjoy a belated V-E Day celebration during a suprise visit to London on May 15, 1945. Left to right is Lt. John Eisenhower, son of the commander, Miss Tony Porter, Eisenhower, his secretary Lt. Kay Summersby and Gen. Omar N. Bradley. (AP Photo)
  • Danish patriots who entered the city of Copenhagen on the announcement of Germany’s capitulation, march away a Gestapo agent, who was rounded up by men of the resistance group, during VE Day celebrations, on May 22, 1945. (AP Photo)
  • The Dutch town of Enschede, Netherlands, during VE Day celebrations,on May 12, 1945. Men and women dancing in the square. (AP Photo)
  • Through streets lined deep with jubilant Danish crowds, British troops enter the city of Copenhagen during VE Day celebrations on May 11, 1945, after the announcement of Germany’s unconditional surrender to the Allies. (AP Photo/Eddie Worth)
  • British troops which crossed the Austrian border on VE Day are now wetly policing their area. The Austrian border being policed by british military policemen, May 10, 1945. (AP Photo)
  • President Harry S. Truman (right center), gestures as he tells newsmen details of surrender of Germany during press conference at the White House in Washington, May 8, 1945 attended by 123 reporters. At top, facing, are (left to right): Gen. G.C. Marshall, Col. Harry Vaughan, J.L. Reinsch, Rep. Joseph Martin, first lady Bess Truman, Rep. John W. McCormack, Mary Margaret Truman, Admiral William D. Leahy, Capt. James K. Vardaman, Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson, Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn, Matthew Connally, Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau, Secretary of the Navy James V. Forrestal, Senate President Protem Kenneth McKellar, Edward McKin, Stephen Larly, Jonathan Daniels, Attorney General Francis Biddle and Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins. (AP Photo)
  • Mounted policemen strive to clear a path for Premier Winston Churchill’s car on its way through a surging crowd of VE Day celebrants in Parliament Square, London on May 8, 1945, after announcement of German surrender. The premier stands in his car to acknowledge cheers of crowd. (AP Photo)
  • The Tower of London floodlit during the VE Day celebrations, on May 8, 1945. (AP Photo)
  • A seething mass of humanity jammed itself into Whitehall VE-Day, to see the Premier, his cabinet ministers and chief of staff who are to appear on the balcony of the Ministry of Health. A view of the enormous crowd packed into Whitehall as one looks down the street toward the Cenotaph, London, on May 8, 1945. (AP Photo)
  • After making his public broadcast officially announcing Germany’s total surrender, the Prime Minister went to the House of Commons, to make a short address and them moved that the House attend at the church of St. Margaret’s Westminster, to give humble and reverent thanks to almighty God for our deliverance from the threat of German domination. The House then rose and followed the Speaker to the church. Prime Minister Winston Churchill, centre, in the procession of members of the House leaving the Palace of Westminster for St. Margaret’s Church in London, on May 8, 1945. (AP Photo)
  • A seething mass of humanity jammed itself into Whitehall on VE-Day, to see the premier, his cabinet ministers and chiefs of staff who are to appear on the balcony of the Ministry of Health. A section of the huge crowd gathered in Parliament Square into Whitehall in London on May 8, 1945, as they listened to the premier’s broadcast officially announcing Germany’s unconditional surrender. (AP Photo)
  • A vast crowd assembled in front of Buckingham Palace, London, on VE Day, May 8, 1945, cheers the Royal Family as they come out on the balcony, centre, minutes after the official announcement of Germany's unconditional surrender. From left are: Princess Elizabeth; Queen Elizabeth; King George VI; and Princess Margaret. (AP Photo/Leslie Priest)
  • Throughout the day, Transport Hall in Transport House was jammed with men and women of the Labour Movement pouring over the tape machine and watching constantly the news of the rising majority of the Labour Party as it was flashed on to a screen. When Clement Attlee accompanied by his wife, Violet, entered, the people jumped on to chairs cheering wildly and swarmed round him to shake hands. Clemet Attlee gives the Ve-sign to cheering throngs which gathered at Transport House, in London on July 26, 1945, to hear Labour’s great victory at the polls. Violet Attlee stands beside her husband, slightly obscured by his arm. (AP Photo)
  • Workers celebrate Victory in Europe Day in Manchester at the end of the Second World War. 8th May 1945. (Photo by Kemsley/Mirrorpix/Mirrorpix via Getty Images)
  • VJ Day Street Party at Heaton Park, Manchester. August 1945. (Photo by Manchester Evening News Archive/Mirrorpix/Mirrorpix via Getty Images)
  • Mr. Churchill's V.E. Day Broadcast', 1945 (1955). Mr. Churchill broadcast end of hostilities of WWII, one minute after midnight, although 'ceasefire' had been sounded along the front. Millions of people rejoiced in the news that Germany had surrendered, relieved the intense strain of total war was finally over. From Churchill: The Man of the Century - A Pictorial Biography, edited by Neil Ferrier. [L.T.A. Robinson Limited, London, 1955]. Artist Unknown(Photo by The Print Collector/Getty Images)
  • (Original Caption) Belgium: VE Day Peace Celebrations In Brussels, 1st Day. Au Bon Marche' with a large picture of the King of Belgians, the place all decorated at the Place Rogler, Brussels.
  • Victory celebrations in Central Birmingham at the end of the Second World War. 15th May 1945. (Photo by Birmingham Post and Mail Archive/Mirrorpix/Mirrorpix via Getty Images)
  • Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II) is greeted by crowds as she tours the East End of London on the day after VE Day, 9th May 1945. (Photo by Chris Ware/Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
  • World War II veteran Tony Iacoppi, 90, from Enfield, takes a moment to reflect as he walks through British war graves in the shadow of Monte Cassino Abbey before a British commemoration service at the Cassino Commonwealth War Cemetery on the second day of his tour to Italy. (Photo by Joe Giddens/PA Images via Getty Images)
  • The front page of the Albuquerque Journal features a headline about V-E, the day of Germany's surrender to America, marking the end of World War II. (Photo by © CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

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