World War II Database

• Home
• » Events
• » WW2 Timeline
• » 7 May 1945

• German submarine U-2336 sank Canadian transport ship Avondale Port and Norwegian transport ship Sneland off the Firth of Forth, Scotland, United Kingdom; around the same time, an RAF Catalina flying boat sank German submarine U-320 off Bergen, Norway. These battles came shortly after Admiral Dönitz's order for all submarines to cease offensive activities. Many German crews began scuttling their own submarines to prevent capture. ww2dbase [AC]
• British Eighth Army entered Austria. ww2dbase [TH]
• General Jodl signed the unconditional surrender of all German forces to the Allies, to take effect on the following day, at Eisenhower's headquarters near Rheims, France; the Soviets witnessed the surrender at Rheims, but did not recognise the surrender until another document was signed in the Soviet-conquered territory. On the same day, German occupation forces in Norway surrendered. ww2dbase [Germany's Surrender | TH]
• Anton Mussert was arrested. ww2dbase [Anton Mussert | CPC]
• Nürnberg was decommissioned from service. ww2dbase [Nürnberg | CPC]
• German President Karl Dönitz decreed that "[a]ll nominations for the bestowal of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and their higher grades which have been received by the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht - staff of the Wehrmacht high command - until the capitulation becomes effective are approved, under the premise that all nominations are formally and correctly approved by the nominating authorities of the Wehrmacht, Heer including the Waffen-SS, Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe all the way to the level of the army and Heeres group leadership." ww2dbase [Karl Dönitz | CPC]
• Oliver Leese told William Slim his intention to transfer Slim to the British 12th Army for the occupation of Burma. Deprived the command to lead the invasion into Malaya, Slim told Leese that he would rather retire. ww2dbase [William Slim | CPC]
• USS Ray rescued 10 airmen of a downed B-29 bomber south of Kyushu, Japan. ww2dbase [Ray | CPC]

• Submarine I-369 arrived at Woleai, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [I-369 | Woleai | CPC]

• German SS troops attacked Czechoslovakian resistance fighters outside of Prague, Czechoslovakia; the resistance fighters were saved by the unexpected assistance from 1st Division of Russian Liberation Army, which has previously fought on the side of the Germans. Meanwhile, in the city, German Field Marshal Ferdinand Schörner ordered his troops to begin evacuating the city, while he would soon depart by plane to southern Germany himself; the plane would crash en route, but he would survive the ordeal. ww2dbase [Prague Strategic Offensive | Prague | CPC]

• Barbers Point Naval Air Station: V-E Day. [Victory in Europe] ww2dbase [Barbers Point Naval Air Station | Ewa, Oahu | DS]

• Kamoi took on a cargo of food at Singapore. ww2dbase [Kamoi | Singapore | CPC]

• The He 111 aircraft which Léon Degrelle traveled aboard, having run out of fuel, crash landed on the beach of La Concha, San Sebastián, Spain. ww2dbase [Léon Degrelle | San Sebastián, País Vasco | CPC]

• The Selfridges Department Store on Oxford Street, London, England, United Kingdom revealed that over the previous 2-3 weeks there had been a considerable public demand for Welcome Home Flags. ww2dbase [London, England | AC]

• Henry Arnold was relieved of command at the US Twentieth Air Force. ww2dbase [Henry Arnold | CPC]
• USS Sunfish entered Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, California, United States for a scheduled overhaul. ww2dbase [Mare Island Navy Yard | Sunfish (Gato-class) | Vallejo, California | CPC]

7 May 1945 Interactive Map