The official end of the Second World War in Europe was 8th May 1945, but it wasn't as simple as it might seem. The Nazis surrendered at the Allied Supreme Headquarters in Reims in the early hours of 7th May, but this did not involve the Russian forces who had taken Berlin, and so they received a "general and unconditional surrender" in the German capital, on 8th May at 10.43pm local time and it was only after this that the official surrender announcement was made. Word of the surrender leaked out on 7th of May and by the morning of the 8th British newspapers carried headlines such as "Tonight is VE-Night". The official VE Day holiday was set on 8th May and the partying began in earnest.