May 1945

Eastern Front

Army Group Kurland begins to surrender. Over 189,000 German soldiers march into Soviet captivity as the 16th and 18th Armies lay down their arms.

Fighting continues in East Prussia and Bohemia as the Soviets pound the remnants of the Ostheer. Dresden falls to the 5th Guards Army and the 4th Ukrainian Front is involved in fierce fighting around Olomouc. The town falls late in the day. German forces begin to surrender in large numbers.

In Croatia Yugoslav partisans take Zagreb, confining Army Group E to a narrow strip of land along the Austro-Slovene border.

May 8 is declared VE Day as the surrender of the German Army is ratified on the Luneburg Heath by Field Marshal Montgomery. However, for the Soviets the German surrender is not complete until the 9th, this being declared VE Day in the Soviet Union. Even so, despite the official surrender, the fighting in East Prussia, Bohemia and Austria continues.