SHAEF Headquarters

As part of our continuing WW,Too tour, we visited the site where Germany signed the surrender. A pretty non-descript, brick building located across from the rail station in an area that doesn’t have a lot going for it. This was Allied Supreme Command headquarters from February 1945 to the end of the war.  Although this was the building where the surrender was signed, one surprising fact was that General Eisenhower did not attend the signing. He was in his office in the same building but chose not to attend. I’m guessing since our boy Adolf offed himself 30 April 1945, Dwight didn’t see the need to be there.

The room where the surrender was signed was the operations room used for combat and resource planning. Most of the original maps depicting railways, pipelines, troops, etc. are still on the walls just how they were left at wars end.

The table where the surrender was signed.

I love this. The surrender terms for Germany were first discussed in January 1944, six months before D-Day. Not that the Allies were over-confident, just good planners. (Bet that Lt. General Morgan guy had something to do with this). The group called the “Working Security Committee” drafted the conditions and recommended that they be signed by the German High Command, not civilian government representatives. They wanted to guard against the stab-in-the-back attitude in Germany that arose after WW1 was signed by non-military reps. BTW- All signees from the Allies were military.

The signatories of the surrender were, Germany – General Alfred Jodl (later hanged for crimes against humanity), Allied Supreme Command – General Walter Bedell (Beatle) Smith, Soviet General – Ivan Susloparov , and France – Major General Francois Sevez.  So, some 6hrs after the surrender was signed in Reims, Russia denounces it and says it is not as agreed. A formal, singular signing needs to take place in public view. Read- they wanted Soviet publicity.

A second signing of the surrender occurred in 1:00am 9 May 1945, in Berlin. Not much of the public was up at that hour, I would bet.

(Lt. Gen. Sir Morgan sat across and to the left of Gen Jodl during the surrender!)