A black wooden frame 12 inches by 18 inches containing two pictures each 8 inches by 10 inches of German Officers arriving in their staff cars to sign Instrument of Surrender papers at TAC 21 HQ of Field Marshall Montgomery located at Luneburg Heath on 4 May 1945.
Lt. Col. Trumbull Warren, a 48th Highlander and Personal Assistant goes to escort the Officers to the tent for the signing.
As Personal Assistant to Montgomery – one of the outstanding Allied commandeers of the Second World War – Trumbull Warren was the man who fetched the Germans to Montgomery’s caravan on May 3rd to hear Monty’s terms, and on May 4th to sign the surrender, ending more than five years of hostilities. It provided an indelible memory for the Canadian Lieutenant-Colonel, a Hamilton businessman after the war, who died in Guelph on Sept. 12th at the age of 86.
Warren later described the events in Monty, the three-volume biography of Montgomery by British author Nigel Hamilton. “The senior officer was General Admiral von Friedeburg, Commander-in- Chief of the German fleet. General Kinsel, Chief of Staff of the German army was ‘a magnificent looking officer about 6’5’ … complete with monocle – a real professional Prussian, ” Warren noted. Next was Rear Admiral Wagner, flag officer to the admiral of the fleet. And Major Friedl, who had “the cruelest face of any man I have ever seen.” A fifth officer – a Colonel Pollok joined the group for the signing. Warren continued his description: “The German delegation went across to the tent, watched by groups of soldiers, war correspondents, photographers, and others – all very excited. They knew it was the end of the war.” “I had the surrender document all ready. The arrangements in the tent were very simple – a trestle table covered with an army blanket, an inkpot, an ordinary army pen that you could buy in a shop for two pence. There were two BBC microphones on the table.” More surrenders followed on May 7th, prior to Victory-in-Europe (VE Day) on May 8th.
