DOCUMENT OF SURRENDER

Manawatu Standard, Volume LXV, Issue 135, 9 May 1945, Page 6

DOCUMENT OF SURRENDER

3.15 P.M. EDITION

SHIPS NOT TO BE SCUTTLED

PUNITIVE STEPS THREATENED

(N.Z. Press Association —Copyright.) (Rec. 1.10 p.m.) LONDON, May 8

The following is the text of the German surrender: "We, the undersigned", acting on the authority of the German High Command, hereby surrender unconditionally to the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces and simultaneously to the Soviet High Command all the forces, land, sea and air, at this date under German control.

"The German High Command will immediately issue orders to all German military, naval and'air authorities that all the forces under German control are to cease active operations at 11.1 p.m. on May 8 (Central European time) and to remain in the positions then occupied. No ship, vessel or aircraft is to scuttle and no damage is to be done to the hulls, machinery or equipment. "The German High Command will immediately issue this text to the appropriate commanders and"will ensure the carrying out of further orders from the Allied Supreme Commander and the Soviet High. Command.

"This act of military surrender is without prejudice to and will be superseded by any general instrument of surrender imposed by or on behalf of the United Nations and is applicable to Germany and the German armed forces as a whole. "In the event of the German High Command or any forces under its control failing to act in accordance with this act of surrender, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force and the Soviet High Command will take any punitive measures they deem appropriate.."

* The last straw for the German "commanders was when they were unable to get the German soldiers to fight. This was disc-losed by the •German Generals who signed the 'instrument of surrender at Gen- i ■ 'era! Eisenhower's headquarters, says Renter's correspondent at J!helms in a delayed dispatch. General Eisenhower, after the signing, sternly asked the Germans if they understood the terms and were prepared; to carry them out. They said they were. Jodi then snapped to attention and said: "1 want to say a word." lie spoke in English, but continued in German. "With this signature jthe German people and armed forces are, for better or worse, delivered into the victors' hands," he said. "They have both achieved and suffered more than perhaps any other people in the world. I, in this hour, can only express the hope that the victors will treat them with generosity." There was no reply to his remarks and he left the room.

It was a strange scene, adds the correspondent, almost drab and commonplace in view of the momentous nature of the occasion. Around the walls of General ' Eisenhower's headquarters were maps on which the Germans could see the hopelessness of the military situation. In the centre *.of the room there was a plain, uncovered, cracked table, painted grey. The setting was brightened only by the blazing lights used by photographers. Each delegate had a pencil and a pad before him. There were ash trays at each place, but no one smoked. The documents had previously been prepared on plain legal forms without ribbons, seals or trimmings. NO FRIENDSHIP. There was an air of austerity throughout the proceedings. Jodl sat opposite General Bedell-Smith. The Germans, except Friedeberg, wore their grey-green uniforms with full decorations. When saluting, they used the regular military salute. There was no unnecessary conversation, the French and Russian delegates did not even speak. Friedeberg during the preliminary negotiations with General BedellSmith, expressed a fear that the Russians would kill many German soldiers unless they were allowed to surrender directly to the Western Allies. General Bedeli-Smith expressed no sympathy and said the Allies were prepared only to discuss Uiicondi tional surrender.

The German delegates showed no signs of remorse. Jodl's face was completely expressionless ,as lie strode stiffly and arrogantly from the Dakota transport plane in which he arrived at General Eisenhower's Headquarters. The Exchange Telegraph -Agency's correspondent says that when Jodl made his short speech he stood stiffhacked, with his heels close together. Generals Eisenhower and Bedell-Smith watched him impassively. His colleagues stared straight ahead. They left the room in silence. Seventeen Allied war correspondents shifted aside, to let them pass, and immediately the solemn tableau of surrender broke up. Conversation broke out among the Allied officers around the table. General Eisenhower, in a victory address after the signing, said: '"1 lie formula for unconditional surrender which President Roosevelt and Mr Churchill pronounced in January, 1943, has been fulfilled. The Allied forces, with their great Russian ally have utterly defeated Germany on land and sea and in the air. The bulk of the forces which carried out this invasion have been supplied by Britain and America, but we have had elements from almost every oppressed country in Europe, ft is particularly fitting that the surrender should be signed in the heart of France which Buffered so much and helped us so much. To every subordinate in the command of 5,000,000 men, f owe a greater debt of gratitude than 1 can ever repay."

GREETINGS TO DIVTSTON.

(Press Assn.) WELLINGTON, May 8 The Dominion president of the New Zealand R.S.A. (Mr B. J. Jacobs) has (sent the following congratulatory cablegram to General Freyberg on behalf of all returned servicemen and women : "Heartiest congratulations on your recent achievements, from Diggers, Kiwis and Tuis, to yourself and all ranks." _^