page_title: British Army during the Second World War
section_title: 1945
hierarchical_section_title: British Army during the Second World War / Campaigns / 1945
caption_attribution_description: English: The British Army in Italy 1945 Infantry ride on Sherman tanks of 6th Armoured Division as they head towards the Austrian border, 4 May 1945.
context_page_description: At the start of 1939, the British Army was a small volunteer professional army. At the beginning of the Second World War, 3 September 1939, the British Army was small in comparison to its enemies, as it had been in the First World War. It also quickly became evident that the initial structure and manpower of the British Army were woefully unprepared and ill-equipped for a war with multiple enemies on multiple fronts. During the early war years the British Army suffered defeat in almost every theatre of war in which it was deployed. But from late 1942, starting with the battle of El Alamein, fortunes changed and the British Army never suffered another strategic defeat, despite some tactical failures.
  While there are a number of reasons for this shift, not least the USA joining the Allies from 8 December 1941, an important factor was the stronger British Army. This included better equipment and training, better military intelligence and mass conscription that allowed the British Army to expand to form larger armies and army groups, as well as create new specialist formations such as the Special Air Service, Special Boat Service, Commandos and the Parachute Regiment.
context_section_description: In Germany the 21st Army Group offensive towards the Rhine began in February. The Second Army pinned down the Germans, while the Canadian First and the U.S. Ninth Armys made pincer movements piercing the Siegfried Line. On 23 March, the Second Army crossed the Rhine, supported by a large airborne assault (Operation Varsity) the following day. The British advanced onto the North German Plain, heading towards the Baltic sea. The Elbe was crossed by VIII Corps and the Elbe bridgehead expanded, Bremen fell on 26 April, Luebeck and Wismar on 2 May and Hamburg 3 May. On 4 May, all German forces in Denmark, Netherlands, and north west Germany surrendered to Montgomery.
  In the Italian Campaign, the poor winter weather and the massive losses in its ranks, sustained during the autumn fighting, halted any advance until the spring. The Spring 1945 offensive in Italy commenced after a heavy artillery bombardment on 9 April. By 18 April, the Eighth Army, now commanded by Lieutenant-General Sir Richard McCreery, had broken through the Argenta Gap and captured Bologna on 21 April. The 8th Indian Infantry Division, reached the Po River on 23 April. The British V Corps, under Lieutenant-General Charles Keightley,  traversed the Venetian Line and entered Padua in the early hours of 29 April, to find that partisans had locked up the German garrison of 5,000 men. The Axis forces, retreating on all fronts and having lost most of its fighting power, was left with little option but surrender. General Heinrich von Vietinghoff, signed the surrender on behalf of the German armies in Italy on 29 April formally bringing hostilities to an end on 2 May 1945.
  In Burma the Battle of Meiktila and Mandalay started in January, despite logistical difficulties, the British were able to deploy large armoured forces in Central Burma. Most of the Japanese forces in Burma were destroyed during the battles, allowing the Allies to capture the capital, Rangoon on 2 May. Still in control of Malaya and parts of Burma, the Japanese surrendered on 14 August.
caption: Infantry ride on Sherman tanks of the British 6th Armoured Division as they head towards the Austrian border, 4 May 1945.
exif: {}