Air Operations, CBI

• 38 C-46s and C-47s from the 1st Combat Cargo Group and 1st and 2nd Air Commando groups drop 800 Ghurka paratroopers near Rangoon as part of the final assault on the city.

• 5 308th Heavy Bomb Group B-24s sow mines along several stretches of the Yangtze River.
• More than 20 341st Medium Bomb Group B-25s and more than 130 14th Air Force fighter-bombers attack numerous targets across southern and eastern China.
• 3rd CACW Fighter Group P-51s down 2 D3A 'Val' dive bombers in a morning engagement over Suchow Airdrome.

Air Operations, East Indies

• 42nd Medium Bomb Group B-25s support Australian Army ground forces on Tarakan Island.
• US Navy carrier aircraft attack the Kudat airfield on Borneo.

Air Operations, Europe

• There have been no offensive operations by Bomber Command since the evening of April 26 and most squadrons thought that their war in Europe was over, but it is feared that the Germans are assembling ships at Kiel to transport troops to Norway in order to carry on the war there. A last raid by No. 8 Group Mosquitos is organized to deal with this possibility, with a large supporting effort being provided.
• 16 Mosquito bombers of No. 8 Group and 37 Mosquitos of No. 100 Group are first sent to attack airfields in the Kiel area.
• A Mosquito of No. 169 Squadron, No. 100 Group, is lost while carrying out a low-level napalm attack on Jagel airfield. Its crew, Flying Officer R. Catterall, DFC, and Flight Sergeant D. J. Beadle, are killed.
• 126 Mosquitos of No. 8 Group then attack Kiel in 2 raids, 1 hour apart. The target area is almost completely cloud-covered but H₂S and Oboe are used. Large fires on the ground are seen through the cloud. No Mosquitos are lost on these raids. Toward morning, a large column of military vehicles depart in the direction of Flensburg on the Danish frontier. 'The upsurge in the population's morale was indescribable', comments the town diary. 'There was a final spasm of fear when explosions were heard from the harbor but these turned out to be all the flak guns and warships in the harbour firing off their ammunition.' After this, Kiel is declared an open, undefended town. As soon as this happened, all the military stores and some of the civilian ones containing rationed goods are thrown open to the public before Allied troops arrive 36 hours later.
• Meanwhile, there is a final small tragedy for Bomber Command. 89 RCM aircraft of No. 100 Group is sent to support the Mosquito bomber force and 2 Halifaxes from No. 199 Squadron, each with 8 men on board, are lost. The Halifaxes are part of the Mandrel screen and are also carrying 4,500lb bombs and large quantities of Window. The 2 aircraft crash at Meimersdorf, just south of Kiel, and it is probable that they collide while on their bomb runs. They are the last Bomber Command aircraft to be lost in the war. There are only 3 survivors. 13 airmen, 12 from the United Kingdom and one from the Irish Republic, mostly second-tour men, die. They are: Warrant Officer W. F. Bolton; Flight Sergeant A. A. Bradley; Flight Lieutenant W. E. Brooks; Sergeant F. T. Chambers; Flying Officer K. N. J. Croft; Warrant Officer K. A. C. Gavin; Flight Sergeant D. Greenwood; Flying Officer A. S. J. Holder, DFC; Flight Sergeant J. R. Lewis; Flight Sergeant J. Loth; Pilot Officer W. H. V. Mackay; Warrant Officer R. H. A. Pool; and Flight Sergeant D. Wilson.

Air Operations, Philippines

• 5th and 13th Air Force bombers and fighter bombers attack various targets and support US Army ground forces on Cebu and Luzon.
• 1st Marine Aircraft Wing PBJs, SBDs, and F4Us support the US X Corps on Mindanao.

Air Operations, Ryukyus

US Navy and Marine Corps aircraft support US 10th Army ground forces on Okinawa and attack airfields in the Sakishima Islands.

Battle of the Atlantic

Over the next few days 23 out of 60 U-boats are sunk by the RAF while attempting to escape from northwest Germany to Norway.

Burma

The British carry out Operation DRACULA, the amphibious attack on Rangoon. Adm Martin leads the 4 escort carriers and other naval units involved. The 26th Indian Div lands at the mouth of the Rangoon River and advances on Rangoon without meeting any enemy resistance, just as the paratroopers had done when they were dropped the previous day. The city, heavily bombed by the Allies on April 26, has been evacauated by the Japanese. Adm Walker leads TF 63 with the battleships Queen Elizabeth and Richelieu and 2 escort carriers as well as cruisers and destroyers in covering operations in which Port Blair and Car Nicobar are bombed and shelled.

In the British XXXIII Corps sector, the 20th Indian Div is at the gates of Prome, on the Irrawaddy, north of Rangoon, cutting off the last route by which the Japanese can retreat from the Arakan. The 17th Indian Div, British IV Corps, completes the capture of Pegu, northeast of Rangoon.

Diplomatic Relations

Ireland's Prime Minister Eamon de Valera calls at the German legation in Dublin to express condolences for Hitler's death.

Eastern Front

In the north, the German forces are driven back to a line running from Rostock to Lake Müritz and Neuruppin.

In Berlin, the 28th Army of the 1st Ukraine Front and the 2nd Army of the 1st Belorussian Front join up on the Charlottenberg Chaussee and carry on with the liquidation of the last nests of resistance. Following the armistice in Italy, the British advance toward the Alpine passes leading to Styria and Carinthia, in the rear of Army Group E. Lothar Rendulic takes over command of Army Group South, until now under Otto Wöhler. German resistance continues in Breslau and on the tongue of land near Pillau, Bay of Danzig. In Czechoslovakia, the Russians advance southwest of Moravska-Ostrava and east of Brno.

Stalin announces the fall of Berlin in Order of the Day No. 359: 'Troops of the 1st Belorussian Front, commanded by Marshal Zhukov . . . have today May 2 completely captured Berlin . . . hotbed of German aggression.' The Order mentions 131 general and confers on their units honorary designation of 'Berlin' divisions.

The only large German forces which remain in contact with the Soviet armies are those isolated in Latvia and those in Austria and Czechoslovakia. These last are now under pressure from all sides, by forces from the Eastern and Western Fronts and from Italy.

Gen Weidling, commander of the Berlin garrison, surrenders. The Battle of Berlin has cost the Germans 500,000 killed and captures; Soviet losses are 81,000 killed and 272,000 wounded. Josef Goebbels and his wife Magda commit suicide, but not before killing their six children. Gen Krebs also kills himself.[MORE]

Italy

On the strength of the document signed by the Germans at Caserta on April 29, hostilities cease on the whole front and the unconditional surrender of the German forces comes into effect at noon. The long, difficult and controversial campaign in Italy is over. Allied forces reach Trieste, Milan and Turin during the course of the day, while others are advancing north toward the Brennar Pass where they will link up with US 7th Army forces from the north.

Okinawa

While the Americans still vainly hammer away at the Shuri line, the Japanese Gen Mitsuru Ushijima decides to mount a big counter-offensive on May 4. He asks Tokyo to step up the kamikaze attacks on American ships, which are providing powerful supporting fire to the Americans' land operations.

Pacific

• The US motor minesweeper YMS-481 is sunk by coastal gunfire in the Tarakan area of Borneo. US ships damaged in the same area include the motor minesweepers YMS-334 and YMS-364 also by coastal gunfire and motor minesweeper YMS-363 by a mine.
• The Japanese frigate Ojika is sunk by the US submarine Springer (SS-414) in the Yellow Sea.

Philippines

On Luzon in the US I Corps sector, the 25th Div continues to attack the Kembu plateau and takes a number of positions. The 145th Inf, XI Corps, completes the mopping up operation on Mount Pacawagan. The remaining Japanese forces in the Bicol peninsula regroup around Mount Isarog, northeast of Anayan.

On Mindanao, the 108th Regimental Combat Group lands in Macajalar Bay. The 24th Div runs into determined resistance by the Japanese on the Davao River, but manages to establish a small bridgehead over it.

On Negros, the Americal Div crosses the Ocoy River and takes Badiang, proceeding toward Ticala and Odlumon.

Secret War

Dr Werner von Braun, Gen Walter Dornberger and other rocket experts surrender to the US 44th Inf Div near Reutte in the Austrian Tyrol.

Spain

Pierre Laval is interned at the disposition of the Allies.

Western Front

Near Barow and Abbendorft the XIII Corps, US 9th Army, makes contact with the Red Army. The V Corps of the US 1st Army reinforces its positions along the Czechoslovak frontier.

Units of the XX Corps, US 3rd Army, reach the Inn River near Passau and Neuhaus. The III Corps also continues to advance toward the Inn.

While the XV Corps, US 7th Army, prepares to advance on Salzburg, the XXI Corps moves along the Inn to the south toward the Degerndorf area. Negotiations for surrender begin between the American VI Corps and the defenders of Innsbruck.

The French I Corps, 1st Army, reaches Obersdorf and Goetzis in Austria.

The British 2nd Army takes Lübeck and Wismar on the Baltic coast. Canadian units take Oldenburg.

Images from May 2, 1945

Preparing to raise a flag over the Reichstag, Berlin, 2 May 1945

Raising a Flag over the Reichstag

Mikhail Alekseevich Yegorov of Soviet 756 Rifle Regiment flying the Soviet flag over the Reichstag, Berlin, Germany, 2 May 1945

The Soviet Flag over the Reichstag

Soviet soldiers celebrating the surrender of the German forces in Berlin, 2 May 1945

Celebrating Surrender in Berlin

Poet and war correspondent Yevgeny Dolmatovsky near the Brandenburg Gate, 2 May 1945

Soviet Writer in Berlin

These men are scouting out the enemy for the 13th Armored Division, 3rd US Army, 2 May 1945

Scouting Out the enemy

Soviet BM-31-12 Katyusha rocket launcher on Studebaker US6 chassis in Berlin, Germany, May 2, 1945

Soviet BM-31-12 Katyusha Rocket Launcher

German troops surrendering their weapons near a subway entrance, Berlin, Germany, 2 May 1945

Germans Surrendering Weapons

German General Helmuth Weidling and other German generals in captivity, Berlin, Germany, 2 May 1945

Captured German Generals