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N0KFQ > TODAY 08.05.17 14:12l 45 Lines 1773 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 31766_N0KFQ
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Subj: Today in History - May 8
Path: IW8PGT<IZ3LSV<IR2UBX<SR1BSZ<F1OYP<F4DUR<CX2SA<N0KFQ
Sent: 170508/1201Z 31766@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQ6.0.13
1945
Victory in Europe
On this day in 1945, both Great Britain and the United States
celebrate Victory in Europe Day. Cities in both nations, as well
as formerly occupied cities in Western Europe, put out flags and
banners, rejoicing in the defeat of the Nazi war machine.
The eighth of May spelled the day when German troops throughout
Europe finally laid down their arms: In Prague, Germans
surrendered to their Soviet antagonists, after the latter had
lost more than 8,000 soldiers, and the Germans considerably more;
in Copenhagen and Oslo; at Karlshorst, near Berlin; in northern
Latvia; on the Channel Island of Sark_the German surrender was
realized in a final cease-fire. More surrender documents were
signed in Berlin and in eastern Germany.
The main concern of many German soldiers was to elude the grasp
of Soviet forces, to keep from being taken prisoner. About 1
million Germans attempted a mass exodus to the West when the
fighting in Czechoslovakia ended, but were stopped by the
Russians and taken captive. The Russians took approximately 2
million prisoners in the period just before and after the German
surrender.
Meanwhile, more than 13,000 British POWs were released and sent
back to Great Britain.
Pockets of German-Soviet confrontation would continue into the
next day. On May 9, the Soviets would lose 600 more soldiers in
Silesia before the Germans finally surrendered. Consequently, V-E
Day was not celebrated until the ninth in Moscow, with a radio
broadcast salute from Stalin himself: "The age-long struggle of
the Slav nations_ has ended in victory. Your courage has defeated
the Nazis. The war is over."
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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