The march to Berlin

Period: April 1945

Adolf Hitler: If we lose the war, the German nation will perish. It is not necessary to pay attention to the needs of the people. Those who survive the war are inferior, because the best ones will be killed.

Involved: Major General Maurice Rose was killed in Paderborn on March 30, 1945.

Red Cross ‘girl’ Dorothy Jane Burdge died on May 1, 1945 just before the end of the war, on a pleasure flight which crashed.

Flight Nurse Red Cross ‘girl’ Wilma ‘Dolly' Vinsant died on May 14, 1945 in a plane crash.

In late March after US, British and Canadian armies had crossed the Rhine in several places, the Allied advance rapidly gained ground. Within a month, the troops had advanced to about 100 kilometers from Berlin.

The Russian army in the meantime had also found their way to Berlin from the eastern front way and arrived there just before the Allied troops coming from the west. On May 16 the Russian advance to Berlin began. Two weeks later they had penetrated into the heart of the city. It was now only a matter of days until Berlin would fall.

For Hitler it was clear that he had lost the war. His last act was on April 29 when he married Eva Brown, and the next day they both committed suicide. On May 1 Joseph Goebbels and his wife followed their example, after they had killed their seven children. On 2 May, the German commander - General Weidling - surrendered.