On this day in 1945 (VE Day), the World War II Allies formerly accepted the unconditional surrender of the armed forces of Nazi Germany and the end of Adolph Hitler's Third Reich.(Pictured right Canadians celebrating VE Day - click on image to enlarge)
Timeline
27 April 1945
Allied forces close in on Milan. Mussolini captured by Italian partisans, whilst trying to flee to Switzerland. The following day Mussolini was executed and his body taken to Milan - and hung for public display in one of the main squares.
30 April 1945
As the Battle of Berlin raged above him, realising everything was lost and not wishing to suffer Mussolini's fate, German dictator Adolph Hitler committed suicide in his bunker along with Eva Braun, his long term mistress whom he had married just hours before the joint suicide.
1 May 1945
German forces surrender in Italy. SS General Wolff ordered all German armed forces in Italy to cease hostilities and signed a surrender document that stipulated that all German forces in Italy were to surrender unconditionally to the allies on 2 May 1945.
4 May 1945
Germany unconditionally surrenders in North West Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands.
8 May 1945
At 10:00 the German Authorities informed the people of the Channel Islands that the war was over.
