Jodl signs the surrender documents in Reims ( National Archives) He signed only his last name on the documents.) (Though Jodl’s first name was Alfred, the initial news reports referred to him as Gustav.
The surrender which brought the war in Europe to a formal end after five years, eight months and six days of bloodshed and destruction was signed for Germany by Col. The surrender took place at a little red schoolhouse which is the headquarters of Gen. REIMS, France (AP) - Germany surrendered unconditionally to the Western Allies and Russia at 2:41 a.m. He managed to dictate 200 to 300 words to London before the phone line failed for good, but that was more than enough to make history - not to mention the front pages of extra editions across the U.S. Eastern War Time after learning of the details Kennedy had sent. Meanwhile, editors in New York held onto the flash to ensure they had it right, releasing it at 9:35 a.m. The phone got passed to other staffers on the AP news desk as Kennedy dictated a proper story over the shaky connection. in New York) that read: “REIMS, France - Allies officially announced Germany surrendered unconditionally.” Hawkins sent a flash to the AP foreign desk in New York at 3:26 p.m. Make the date(line) Reims, France, and get it out.” Hawkins heard the voice say Germany had surrendered unconditionally but didn’t know who he was talking to and needed more details.Īt that point Kennedy picked up the phone and said, “This is Ed Kennedy, Lew. He heard a faint, muffled voice saying “This is Paris calling,” and handed the phone to AP newsman Lewis Hawkins.
The main news desk phone rang at about 3:24 p.m., and Russell Landstrom picked it up. Kennedy retired to his room briefly to ponder his options, then returned to the office, where he asked his colleague Morton Gudebrod to get on the military telephone line and call the AP’s London bureau. Merrick shrugged and said, “Do as you please,” undoubtedly believing the wide-ranging censorship apparatus would prevent Kennedy from getting his story out. Kennedy believed he had every right to release the story and told the officer he would do just that. Merrick said he had his orders and wasn’t authorized to release anything regardless of where else the news might have been announced. Officials inevitably tried to stretch that definition as far as they could at times, but Kennedy felt it was clear that the continued hold on the surrender news was purely political.Īs recounted in a posthumously published memoir, Ed Kennedy’s War, he visited the office of the chief American censor at the Scribe, Lt. The censorship regulations Kennedy and hundreds of other correspondents had followed for years were nominally in place to protect military security. Kennedy heard it in the AP’s office on the fourth floor of the Hotel Scribe and decided he had to act.įlensburg was occupied by British troops, so Kennedy was certain SHAEF had permitted the broadcast - which made sense, since the sooner German troops heard the news the less chance there was of further bloodshed. The BBC aired a translation of the announcement minutes later. Shortly after 2 p.m., German radio in Flensburg broadcast a statement from foreign minister Ludwig Schwerin von Krosigk saying the high command had “declared the unconditional surrender of all fighting German troops.” What was to be gained by delaying release of the news? Eisenhower’s headquarters in Reims, France, were furious, as were the dozens of other reporters back at press headquarters in Paris. The correspondents who had witnessed the signing at Gen. The victorious Allied powers wanted a coordinated announcement of the surrender, with Joseph Stalin in particular pushing for a carefully orchestrated ceremony in Berlin on the afternoon of May 8.
Twelve hours earlier, Kennedy and 16 other correspondents had watched representatives from Germany sign the documents that ended the war in Europe, but they had been forbidden from reporting the momentous news. on May 7, 1945, Associated Press Paris bureau chief Edward Kennedy made the decision that would change the course of his life.