SEVENTY YEARS AGO today, 8 May 1945 was declared Victory in Europe Day bringing the Second World War in Europe officially to a close.

Hitler having committed suicide on 30 April in Berlin, Germany’s surrender was officially approved by his successor, Admiral Karl Donitz.

The act of military surrender was signed at Reims in north-east France on 7 May, and then in Berlin on the following day.

The war would carry on for another four months until Japan officially surrendered on 2 September, but VE Day meant at least that an end was finally in sight.

Here’s some of the scenes that unfolded around the globe after a halt was finally called to six long years of terrible war.

Wikipedia British prime minister Winston Churchill salutes the gathered crowds at Whitehall Wikipedia

PA Archive / Press Association Images Huge crowds throng Trafalgar Square in London PA Archive / Press Association Images / Press Association Images

AP / Press Association Images US president Harry S. Truman (standing) delivers the news of Germany's surrender to White House reporters AP / Press Association Images / Press Association Images

AP / Press Association Images Two men climb a lamp post in London's west end during the celebrations AP / Press Association Images / Press Association Images

AP / Press Association Images Crowds mass at the Arc de Triomphe on VE Day, 1945 AP / Press Association Images / Press Association Images

AP / Press Association Images The British royal family and Churchill salute crowds from Buckingham Palace (Queen Elizabeth, then Princess, is on the far left) AP / Press Association Images / Press Association Images

AP / Press Association Images Grand Central Station, New York, VE Day AP / Press Association Images / Press Association Images

AP / Press Association Images Dwight Eisenhower, supreme commander Allied forces, makes a V for victory after the surrender at Reims AP / Press Association Images / Press Association Images

Wikipedia The signed document of surrender from Reims Wikipedia

Wikipedia US Military Policemen reading about the German surrender in the newspapers Wikipedia

AP / Press Association Images Sir Gordon Lethem, governor of British Guiana, announces Germany's surrender to the public from government buildings in Georgetown AP / Press Association Images / Press Association Images

AP / Press Association Images The Statue of Liberty, New York, illuminated for the first time in 4 years on VE Day, 1945 AP / Press Association Images / Press Association Images

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