1 May 1945

GERMANY: German General Krebs visits Zhukov to attempt to negotiate the surrender of Berlin. He is informed that surrender must be unconditional.

Berlin: General Weidling's diary (90) courtesy of Russ Folsom:
The situation was extremely acute by late afternoon. The defenders of Berlin were crowded into an extremely small space. There could no longer be any hope of a successful breakout. Any attempt at a breakout would have cost more valuable blood, and would have had not the least success. It was perfectly clear to me what the decision must be. Regardless of that, however, I was not going to take this responsible decision on my own, and I asked my closest collaborators to state their views frankly. They all agreed with me: there was only one solution
- Surrender.

We quickly succeeded in making radio contact with the local Russian commanders. At midnight Colonel von Dufving once again crossed our lines as a peace envoy. During the night we did our utmost to inform as many formations as possible of our intentions but our attempts failed almost completely, owing to poor signals communications.

At 0500 hours I crossed a sort of suspension bridge that had been rigged up from undamaged cables of the destroyed bridge over the Landwehrkanal. From Russian Divisional HQ we drove to Army HQ. From there I addressed for the last time those German soldiers still fighting in some parts of Berlin, with orders to lay down their arms. The orders were also passed on by some officers of my staff, accompanied by Russian interpreters.

When we reached Army HQ a delegation from the German Ministry of Propaganda appeared. The Permanent Under-Secretary of the Ministry, Dr.Fritzsche, also addressed an appeal to all German soldiers, urging them to stop fighting at once in the interests of the Berlin population. The Russian command did everything they could to help us put as quick an end as possible to this senseless and lunatic struggle.

From the deck of the Aviso (sloop) GRILLE Dönitz announces the death of Hitler. (Russ Folsom)

Hamburg Radio announces that Hitler is dead. Dönitz is announced as the second Fuhrer of the Reich. He then makes a radio address which seems to listeners as very weak.

Grand Admiral Dönitz, Hitler's appointed successor, orders the German troops to fight to the end while Himmler, who has no authority, is attempting to negotiate favourable surrender terms with the Allies. British troops advance on Lubeck and Hamburg, and US forces are dug in on the west bank of the Elbe.

The Fuhrerbunker, in Berlin, empties as Martin Bormann leaves with others. Josef Goebbels and his wife die after killing their six children. First the children had to be poisoned, all six of them: Helga, 12; Hilda, 11; Helmut, nine; Holde, seven; Hedda, five; and Heide, three. Having given them lethal injections. Josef Goebbels and his wife Magda left the bunker and asked an SS orderly to shoot them in the back of the head.

U-4710 commissioned.

U-3006 scuttled at 0700 at Wilhelmshaven. Wreck broken up.

U-3009 scuttled near Wesermünde. Wreck broken up.

AUSTRIA: The US 7th Army continues advancing into Austria.

ITALY: German General Vietinghoff agrees to the terms signed at Caserta.
Partisans under Tito capture Trieste a few hours before Britain's Eighth Army.

BURMA: British forces in the Sittang Valley approach Pegu. There are also paratrooper landings on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River with the intention of taking Rangoon.

BORNEO: General Whitehead and 18,000 troops of the 26th Australian Brigade land on
Borneo.

The assault landing by Australian troops on Tarakan, off the coast of east Borneo, is the first move to free the Dutch East Indies from Japanese occupation. The naval assault is under the command of VAdm Barbey. The 26th Infantry Brigade of the 9th Division stormed ashore today, thrusting aside a Japanese garrison of 2,100. The Australian government does not like to see its troops used in the Borneo campaign, which it regards as a mopping-up operation. It wants them to take part in the main offensive against Japan.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: Manila: The Mexican Expeditionary Air Force arrives to fight alongside the USAAF in the Philippines.