Air Force Museum
VE Day! Victory in Europe
By April 1945, the German Army was shattered. On April 25, American and Soviet forces met at the Elbe River. Five days later, Adolf Hitler committed suicide in his Berlin bunker. His successor, Admiral Karl Doenitz, sent Gen. Alfred Jodl to the SHAEF (Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Forces) detachment in Rheims to seek terms for an end to the war.
In depth
History & service
By April 1945, the German Army was shattered. On April 25, American and Soviet forces met at the Elbe River. Five days later, Adolf Hitler committed suicide in his Berlin bunker. His successor, Admiral Karl Doenitz, sent Gen. Alfred Jodl to the SHAEF (Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Forces) detachment in Rheims to seek terms for an end to the war. At 2:41 a.m. on May 7, Jodl signed for the unconditional surrender of German forces on all fronts, which was to take effect on May 8 at 11:01 p.m. After six years and millions of live lost, the Nazi scourge was crushed and the war in Europe was finally over.
The tremendous contribution of the AAF in ending the war in Europe came at a high price. AAF casualties totaled 34,362 killed, with 13,708 wounded, and another 43, 035 missing, captured or interned. AAF losses in Europe from all causes totaled 27,694 aircraft, including 8,314 heavy bombers, 1,623 medium and light bombers, and 8,481 fighters destroyed in combat.
What survives after the mission
A museum object begins a second life when it stops performing its original job. An aircraft that once carried a crew becomes a place for public memory. A jacket, letter, medal, or small piece of equipment can preserve a much more intimate connection. The object is valuable both for what it reveals physically and for the documented story that gives it meaning.
Famous aircraft and individuals can make a complicated history approachable, but they are only part of it. Many people left no celebrated machine behind. Memorials, personal possessions, unit records, and photographs help recover the experiences of those whose service was less visible. They also preserve loss, separation, captivity, recovery, and the consequences of war for families and communities.
Preservation involves choices. Restoring an aircraft may make its design easier to understand, while retaining wear or damage may protect evidence of its use. A reproduction can explain how a machine worked, provided its identity remains clear. Linking objects across collections helps fill the gaps created when surviving material is dispersed. A uniform in one gallery, an aircraft in another, and a memorial elsewhere can illuminate the same history from different directions. The result is more than a record of machines: it is a way to keep the people, decisions, and experiences connected to them in view.
