Museum Highlights - VE Day 80th Anniversary
Thursday 8th May 2025 marks 80 years since the end of the Second World War in Europe. On this day in 1945 Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel signed the German Instrument of Surrender, after Soviet troops had conquered Berlin six days before. This signified Germany’s unconditional surrender to the Allied forces. A small amount of fighting continued on the Eastern Front up until the end of May 1945, but by June 1945, the war in the European theatre was over.
The Second World War would continue over the next few months in the Pacific theatre. VJ Day in the UK finally came on 15th August 1945, with the surrender of Imperial Japan following the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (6th August 1945 and 9th August 1945 respectively). On 2nd September 1945 representatives of the Empire of Japan signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender aboard the USS Missouri, formally ending the Second World War as a whole.
As our regiments were stationed primarily in the European theatre, we will be looking towards their actions in May 1945, to see just where they were at when it came to the end of the war in Europe eighty years ago.
10th Hussars - Italy
As the 10th Hussars War Diaries show, the regiment’s last actions occurred on 24th April 1945, with a push North across the Po River (flowing horizontally across the northern stretch of the country). One Cpl Sherriff was slightly wounded in the foot, and, with the aid of the 9th Lancers, C Sqn knocked out approximately nine tanks and SP guns.
From 1st May 1945, they undertook what is described as their ‘Normal Routine’, interspersed with day trips to Ferrara and Venice. On 2nd May, the 10th’s Commanding Officer, Lt Colonel DRB Kay DSO flew back to the UK from Naples for two weeks of leave. He had been commanding the regiment since May 1944, leading them through the battles of Coriano Ridge, Santarcangelo, Cesena, Faenza, and the Argenta Gap.
As a brief aside, it is noted in Lt Colonel Kay’s obituary (Daily Telegraph, 4th March 1996), that he collected 250 gallons of Cinzano from a blown-out vat in a Vermouth factory, which would be drunk by the 10th until the end of the war. He was reprimanded by the Brigade Commander for his misuse of a water cart, but we doubt he was too bothered by this.
A service was attended by the entire regiment, held at the Brigade cinema in Ferrara, on 6th May. This was in memory of all those men of the regiment who had fallen in service throughout the Italian campaign.
On 8th May 1945, what is now known as VE Day, the war diary simply states ‘normal routine’. A Thanksgiving Church service was held on the morning of 10th May, with 300 members of the 10th in attendance.
For the remainder of the month, the regiment remained in Italy, moving between Ferrara and Palmanova, participating in clean up efforts and the creation of local defence schemes. Although the war in the European theatre was formally over, there were still small groups of German/Axis soldiers dotted across the Italian country. It was up to the Allied forces to ensure they were captured and no-longer posed a threat to civilians or other armed forces on patrol.
On 16th May, the war diaries note that ‘C’ Sqn of the 10th Hussars took over from the 14/20th Hussars at the bridge crossing in Sagrado, approximately 15km from the Italy-Slovenia border. The following day saw a hastily arranged football match between the 10th and the Yugoslav Brigade, with the regiment being thoroughly wiped out with a score of 0-4!
The 10th remained in Italy throughout June, July and August, undertaking their ‘normal routine’, although this was occasionally disrupted by a variety of sports and athletics matches against other regiments. 15th August is noted as being the ‘end of war with Japan. Considered a holiday’, with the following two days being described as ‘official holiday’.
The last entry into the 10th Hussars’ War Diary was on 27th August 1945. It tells us that the Second Python party of 3 officers and 184 ORs left for the UK. Post-War, the remainder of the regiment spent their time deployed between Trieste, Austria, and Germany.
11th Hussars - Germany
Contrastingly, the 11th Hussars saw much more action than the 10th towards the end of the war in Europe. They had crossed into Germany as of March 1945, having spent the last few months traversing their way across France, Belgium, and the Netherlands.
After the surrender of Hamburg on 3rd May 1945, the 11th entered the city unopposed in the afternoon. ‘C’ Sqn moved to the northern outskirts of the city, with ‘A’ Sqn in the West, ‘B’ Sqn in the East, and ‘D’ Sqn in the Northwest. ‘D’ Sqn further reported that half a million Prisoners of War were taken on all fronts during the day.
Captain T. Horsford MC, leader of ‘D’ Sqn, was the man to receive the surrender from General-Admiral von Friedeburg, who led the delegation of German officers into the city the following day. The rest of the day saw the regiment organising the ‘never ending streams of prisoners walking into our lines’. ‘C’ Sqn reported that the ‘surrender of Hamburg had had a far-reaching effect on all soldiers in NW Germany’, as thousands of German soldiers were marching into the city to give themselves up to the Allies. Alongside this, ‘C’ Sqn aided in the liberation of an allied PoW camp near Pinneburg, where some of the men had been held since 1939. By 9pm on 4th May, it was announced that all German troops in the Northwest of the country had capitulated.
The 11th’s War Diary gives us greater detail on the response to VE Day. The following are direct excerpts from each squadrons’ reports:-
RHQ
‘VE DAY! Celebrated by bonfires and the more usual forms of celebration.’
A Sqn. 8-12th.
‘Remained at Bendorf enjoying ourselves.’
B Sqn.
‘At 2130 hours SSM Emery broadcast on the BBC from Luneburg. His speech was as follows:-
“That way seemed very long — when we were at Alamein, but once we saw the Germans crack in Tunis — in the last corner in Africa — we knew we would see them crack again as we have done in the northern corner of Europe. We knew the end was near last week, when German Generals drove through our lines. But for me it’s not all over — I’m a regular solider. I’ve done my share out East, so I’ll bring my wife out here and stay with the Army of Occupation. That’s a job we’ve got to do well — or everything we have done will be wasted.”
The speech was very well given by the Sgt Major and all the Sqn listened to it.’
D Sqn.
‘VE DAY!! The Sqn celebrated with rum punch, listened to the King’s speech and the Colonel set fire to a vast bonfire surmounted by a Swastika flag. SQMS Barnes blew up the ‘Ceasefire’. The Nazi emblem perished in the blaze, visible for miles around.’
The 11th remained on patrols for the rest of May, focused around Brunsbuttel and the management of the Nord-Ostsee Kanal. ‘D’ Sqn described this as ‘their little kingdom’, with a diverse array of amenities, ‘which included a small fleet (2 E Boats, 41 fishing smacks, and various motorboats), 2 railway trains and a good stable of horses’. They followed this up with ‘Boating, bathing, horse riding and merciless photography on a diet of sole, fresh butter, cream and eggs was certainly a fitting end to the European War 1939-1945.’
Whilst ‘D’ Sqn was seemingly having a jolly old time, ‘B’ Sqn had the mammoth task of supervising the surrender of the Germany Army Group at Schoningstedt. Starting at 5am on 31st May 1945, Troops 1-5 spent the day organising the Army Group HQ of General Blumentritt. The men were split up into more manageable sized groups and taken via Hamburg to the Nordelbe Canal. From here they would be taken into one of the western peninsulas for de-mobilisation. A second party was also taken up towards the Baltic on the autobahn, where they would also be handed into the western peninsula for segregation and de-mobilisation.
On 4th July 1945 ‘C’ Sqn led British troops into Berlin, with the division commander taking the salute in the city. After a brief ceremony, they moved into Seeckt Barracks, only to spend the rest of the day cleaning, alongside 200 civilians, due to the poor conditions they discovered it in.
RHQ, ‘A’, and ‘B’ Sqns entered Berlin on 7th July. The cleaning of the barracks had seemingly come to an end, but they were certainly not at a lack of things to do. The city had been heavily damaged by shellfire, there was little in the ways of furniture, electric light fittings were in short supply, and the drainage and gas systems were in a state of complete disrepair. The work of re-building very quickly begun.
‘D’ Sqn joined the rest of the 11th on 11th July, and, with the regiment now made whole, they began preparing for the GOC’s Parade in Charlottenburg-Chausser. The Parade took place on 13th July, with contingents from all British Troops in Berlin participating in the march. The 23rd July was an official holiday sanctioned by the Prime Minister, and a victory dinner was held in the Regimental Officers Mess the following day.
The regiment remained in Berlin well into August, where, on 16th, they finally received reports confirming the end of the war with Japan. RHQ stated;-
‘The Regt remained in Berlin throughout the month and settled down to the routine of peace, which became general with the end of the war with Japan, after waiting anxiously for nearly a week for definite news of the capitulation, it was finally confirmed and the troops in Berlin celebrated by having a holiday on the 16th.’
The 11th Hussars stayed in Berlin for the rest of the year, with the final war diaries entries in December 1945 describing their celebrations at the Wavell Barracks (previously Seeckt Barracks), during the festive season.
14/20th Hussars - Italy
As we well know, the 14/20th’s main action towards the end of the war in Europe is that of the Battle of Medicina on 16th April 1945.
By July 1945 they had moved to Chiavari, near Genoa, where they were converted into an armoured car regiment. Whilst stationed here, their main role was internal security duties, ensuring the safety of the Italian civilians and rounding up the last few members of the German army. In reality, this gave them ample spare time where they focused on a whole host of sports – sailing, riding, football, rugby, and skiing.
They would go on to be called to aid with the occupation of Germany. In February 1946 they travelled via train, from Milan to Luneberg, then onto Wuppertal to join the Army of Occupation.
