Victory in Europe: 8 May 1945

Liberation and Victory

LIBERATION

The Allied victory in 1945 was the result of a series of costly final attacks on Germany. In the west, American, British, Canadian, and French forces completed the liberation of occupied countries and penetrated deep into Germany. From the east, the Soviets broke through Germany’s final defences and besieged Berlin in a ferocious assault that resulted in hundreds of thousands of casualties. From the air, American, British, and Canadian bombers continued to pummel German cities until the target list dwindled.

Together, the two corps made the First Canadian Army complete and they fought side-by-side for the first time since the beginning of the war. The Canadians’ were tasked mainly with the liberation of the Netherlands, whose people were devastated by starvation. There was much very hard fighting in these final weeks of the war. Thousands of Dutch civilians in major cities like Rotterdam and Amsterdam or Utrecht were saved by food and fuel parachuted in by Allied aircraft or driven through German lines in trucks during a truce established in the western Netherlands on this front on 28 April. The grateful Dutch greeted their Canadian liberators with great enthusiasm, forging bonds of amity and shared memories of the war unbroken to the present day.

Canadians also came face-to-face with the war’s worst atrocity: the Holocaust, Nazi Germany’s systematic extermination of Jewish people and others, claiming millions of lives. On 12 April 1945, the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division freed nearly 1,000 Dutch Jewish prisoners from Kamp Westerbork, a transit camp the Germans had abandoned. Three days later, British troops liberated Bergen-Belsen, a notorious camp complex with more than 60,000 emaciated prisoners. Some Canadian service members later assisted in providing vital aid to camp survivors.

Black and white photograph. Cobblestoned town square, narrow building in background. A large group of children in warm coats circulate and move through the square, looking generally excited. Many wave small dutch flags. There is a Dutch flag hanging on a — Dutch Children Celebrate the Arrival of the Canadians

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Black and white photograph. 6 young Dutch girls stand in a row, wearing white dresses and holding bouquets of flowers. Onlookers in civilian and military clothing stand behind them. — Dutch Girls Remember

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Black and white photograph. Street scene. Dutch flags are everywhere, in hands and hanging. People crowd the sidewalks and streets on foot and bike. A tank drives down the centre of the street, and civilians run alongside and hang off of it. — Dutch Civilians Ride Along

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A typed note with signature and colour illustration. 3 Netherlands stamps. Picture is of a country church beside a stream and bridge is included. — Thanks From the Netherlands

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VICTORY IN EUROPE

The war in Europe was drawing to a close. With Soviet troops closing in on his underground bunker, Nazi leader Adolf Hitler committed suicide in Berlin on 30 April 1945. German surrender negotiations began mere days later. On 7 May, in a school in Reims, France, Supreme Allied Commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower accepted the unconditional surrender of all German forces. The war in Europe was over. The formal surrender took effect on 8 May 1945, proclaimed Victory-in-Europe Day (V-E Day). The world received the news with jubilation. Still, the continuing war against Japan and the war’s enormous human cost tempered elation over the conclusion of European hostilities.

A newspaper article, single column. — The Fighting Canadians

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This article appeared in *The Globe and Mail* on V-E Day, 1945. It details General H.D.G. Crerar's message to Canadian troops as their commander, and reflects on the responsibility that all Canadians have to their returning servicemen and women. Please find a transcription below.
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VICTORY ON THE HOMEFRONT

Victory-in-Europe celebrations began on 7 May 1945. Crowds took to the streets in the Allied nations. In Canada, people left their businesses, schools emptied, and homes everywhere displayed flags in celebration. Impromptu parades and dance parties broke out in town squares and city streets. The Government officially proclaimed 8 May as V-E Day, a national holiday. Local city councils hastily organized concerts, parades, religious thanksgiving services, and fireworks displays. King George VI praised the indomitable spirit of the British Empire in his radio address. Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, speaking from San Francisco where he was attending the inaugural meeting of the United Nations, told Canadians that they had “helped to rid the world of a great scourge.” Thousands of joyous celebrants descended upon Parliament Hill in Ottawa. In Toronto, people danced in a ticker tape blizzard dropped by Royal Canadian Air Force aircraft.

V-E Day was a bittersweet occasion. Many who had lost loved ones could not face the public merrymaking and marked the occasion in grief. The celebrations also ignited frustrations over wartime restrictions and rationing. In Halifax - a transportation hub for thousands of military personnel - civil strife and chaos reigned due to strained civil-military relations and poor or non-existent celebration planning. Rioting sailors, soldiers, airmen, and civilians looted liquor stores (closed for the V-E Day holiday) and vandalized hundreds of businesses. Three people died and scores were arrested. The riots provoked a federal inquiry and the dismissal of the Royal Canadian Navy’s chief east coast officer for a perceived failure in anticipating the frenzied outburst of pent-up frustration.

Black and white photograph. Thousands of people gather near the parliament buildings in Ottawa. A stage is set up in the middle right of the photo, several vehicles are nearby. — V-E Day Parade

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Black and white photograph. A car drives down the street over tickertape. Happy people ride inside and on top of it. Others crowd the street in front of a large concrete building. — V-E Day on Sparks Street

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Black and white photograph. A man holds a newspaper open to a centre page; the front page is covered in large letters, 'KAPUT'. Four women surround him, all reading the paper. — KAPUT!

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Black and white photograph. A Toronto Street, with a tall clock tower at the end. People crowd the street, barely discernible in the blizzard of tickertape paper in the air. — V-E Day in Toronto

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Black and white photograph. With storefronts in the background at an intersection, the streets are packed with people, several with bicycles, most facing toward the camera. Their faces are jubilant, and many wave flags. Hands are raised in celebration. — Celebrating V-E Day in Montréal

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Black and white photograph. A tram car burns in the dark. — Riots in Halifax

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Black and white photograph. Men and women walk by trashed storefronts with arms full of merchandise. — Looting in Halifax

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VICTORY IN THE EAST

Meanwhile, brutal fighting and heavy casualties marked the last months of the war against Japan. On 6 and 9 August 1945, atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, respectively. The devastation was incomprehensible. Japan surrendered on 15 August 1945, which the Allies later proclaimed Victory-over-Japan Day, or V-J Day. The official surrender was signed on September 2. After six years of destruction and at least 60 million deaths, the Second World War was over.

THE COST OF WAR

More than 1.1 million Canadians and Newfoundlanders served during the war. Nearly 45,000 died, another 55,000 were wounded and some 9,000 had suffered as prisoners of war. The dead are buried in Commonwealth War Graves cemeteries overseas and in Canada or are commemorated by name on memorials.

COMING HOME

After V-E Day, hundreds of thousands of men and women who had served in the Canadian armed forces during the war returned to “civvy street.” The Department of Veterans Affairs was created in 1944 to help with this mass transition to civilian life and to recognize the veterans’ contributions to the country. The Veterans Charter, a series of far-sighted programs and legislation offering pensions, financial credits, land grants, housing loans, university and vocational training, and many other benefits assisted the veterans re-integrate civil society and facilitated their re-establishment. There immediately followed a period of high birth rates (the “baby boom”) and a mass demand for consumer goods which created thousands of jobs in manufacturing and construction, stimulated the economy, and launched the country into an unprecedented period of prosperity. From the ashes of war arose modern Canada.

An audio recording of Veteran Norman Wrigglesworth — Norman Wrigglesworth

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Norman Wrigglesworth describes his wartime experience, including what happened for him at the end of the war and soon after. His narration is transcribed below.
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A black and white newspaper illustration. The Vimy Memorial is framed by bright light; the clouds in the sky around it contain names of notable Second World War battles. Poppies cover the ground. — A Poppy For Remembrance

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This image ran in *The Globe and Mail* around Remembrance Day, 1946. It invokes images of the First World War and remembrance in the Vimy Memorial and the fields of poppies alongside the names of major Canadian engagements in the Second World War. It is captioned "A Poppy For Remembrance", and the names of key Canadian Second World War battles are written in the clouds (Caen, Ortona, Falaise, Dieppe).
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To learn more about Canadian stories during the First and Second World Wars, explore our Further Reading section or visit the Juno Beach Centre website.