{"id":83398,"date":"2025-05-08T02:04:10","date_gmt":"2025-05-08T02:04:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/83398\/"},"modified":"2025-05-08T02:04:10","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T02:04:10","slug":"ed-kennedy-broke-the-news-of-germanys-ww2-surrender-then-got-fired-news-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/83398\/","title":{"rendered":"Ed Kennedy broke the news of Germany’s WW2 surrender – then got fired | News World"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\"Edward
\n\t\tKennedy was waved off when he told military censors that he could not continue to hold the story (Picture: ASSOCIATED PRESS)<\/p>\n

\u2018This is Ed Kennedy in Paris<\/a>. The war is over, and I am going to dictate: Germany<\/a> has surrendered unconditionally.\u2019<\/p>\n

These are the words that ended World War II<\/a> in the West, but they ruined the life of the man who spoke them.<\/p>\n

\u2018That\u2019s official. Get it out,\u2019 the then 39-year-old journalist concluded, instructing his colleagues at news agency the Associated Press to send an update by wire around the world in the afternoon of May 7, 1945.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

It had been 2:41am in Reims, France<\/a>, when German envoys signed the act of unconditional surrender inside a red\u2011brick schoolhouse that served as General Dwight D. Eisenhower\u2019s headquarters.<\/p>\n

Among the 17 Allied correspondents ushered in to witness the ceremony was Edward Kennedy, then the AP\u2019s Paris Bureau chief.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tbrowser that
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsupports HTML5
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tvideo<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t<\/video><\/p>\n

The surrender was subject to a military embargo to ensure compliance across the entire continent, and was initially due to take effect at 23:01 on May 8.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kennedy, naturally, sought to prepare and file the story of a lifetime as fast as possible.<\/p>\n

However, as he and the other correspondents returned to the Hotel Scribe in Paris that day, the embargo was suddenly extended.<\/p>\n

Allied military leaders insisted that the momentous occasion be kept secret for another 36 hours until after a second Soviet\u2011led surrender ceremony in Berlin.<\/p>\n

\t\t\"Speech
\n\t\tAdolf Hitler in 1941 (Picture: Keystone-France\/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Some believed it was important that the surrender be made by the heads of the German Armed Forces to the Soviets, as well as the Western Allies.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But when Kennedy learned German officials had announced the surrender in a radio broadcast from Flensburg \u2013 a city in Allied hands, who would have had to approve the broadcast \u2013 he concluded the embargo was political, not a matter of troop safety or national security, as other wartime reporting restrictions had been.<\/p>\n

Kennedy was waved off when he told military censors that he could not continue to hold the story.<\/p>\n

He paused and thought about it for 15 minutes, and then made the call of his life.<\/p>\n

Picking up an unmonitored military phone to the AP bureau in London, he began transmitting a 400\u2011word bulletin that would change the world forever.<\/p>\n

\u2018Germany has surrendered unconditionally to the Western Allies and Russia at 2:41 am French time Monday,\u2019 he began.<\/p>\n

\u2018The surrender took place at a little red schoolhouse which is the headquarters of Gen. Eisenhower.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018The surrender, which brought the war in Europe to a formal end after five years, eight months and six days of bloodshed and destruction was signed for Germany by Col. Gen. Gustav Jodl.\u2019<\/p>\n

\t\t\"Edward
\n\t\tWithin an hour, Kennedy\u2019s credentials were revoked (Picture: AP)<\/p>\n

The bulletin was published and spread across the globe like wildfire.<\/p>\n

\u2018The absurdity of attempting to bottle up news of such magnitude was too apparent,\u2019 Kennedy later wrote.<\/p>\n

And so, celebrations began a full day before what would be forever remembered as VE Day.<\/p>\n

In keeping with the double surrender, \u2018Victory Day\u2019 is still celebrated in Russia and parts of the former Soviet Union on May 9.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\"VE
\n\t\tCelebrations began a full day before what would be forever remembered as VE Day (Picture: Picture Post\/Hulton Archive\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

So Kennedy had a huge part in one of the defining moments of global history, but retribution against him was rapid and ruthless.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Within an hour, Kennedy\u2019s credentials were revoked, and he was expelled from France. AP correspondents were briefly banned from filing copy.<\/p>\n

Under pressure from military and rival press officials, the AP publicly rebuked their reporter, suspended him and quietly severed ties a matter of weeks later.<\/p>\n

More than 50 of his own colleagues signed a protest letter condemning him for \u2018the most disgraceful double\u2011cross in the history of journalism.\u2019<\/p>\n

\n

As we celebrate the 80th anniversary of VE Day, we should take a moment to remember Kennedy<\/p>\n

Quote
\nQuote<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Kennedy never worked for a major news organisation again.<\/p>\n

He edited regional papers in California until he died in a 1963 traffic accident at 58.<\/p>\n

At his funeral, Monsignor John Ryan said \u2018He gave the world twenty-four more hours of happiness.\u2019<\/p>\n

However, it would take nearly seven decades after his firing and over 40 years after his death before the AP reversed course.<\/p>\n

\t\t\"Winston
\n\t\tWinston Churchill addresses a huge crowd in Whitehall (Picture: Bettmann Archive)<\/p>\n

In May 2012, then President and CEO Tom Curley issued a formal apology, calling the firing \u2018a terrible day for the AP\u2019 and praising Kennedy for \u2018doing everything just right.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018It was handled in the worst possible way,\u2019 Curley said. \u2018Once the war is over, you can\u2019t hold back information like that.\u2019<\/p>\n

The agency simultaneously supported the publication of Ed Kennedy\u2019s War, the correspondent\u2019s posthumous memoir, which had struggled to find a publisher.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As we celebrate the 80th anniversary of VE Day and honour the hundreds of thousands of brave men and women who fought and died for our freedom, we should take a moment to remember Kennedy.<\/p>\n

\t\t\"Edward
\n\t\tKennedy would never know his vindication (Picture: ASSOCIATED PRESS)<\/p>\n

His once\u2011controversial scoop destroyed his career and upended his life. Kennedy would never know his vindication, dying decades before history would remember his journalistic bravery as a landmark moment in the end of World War II.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That belief that the world had a right to know was a decision that cost him personally, but gave us all an extra day of peace.<\/p>\n

Today, a monument to Kennedy stands in Laguna Grande Park in California, with the inscription: \u2018He gave the world an extra day of happiness.\u2019<\/p>\n

It is often said that in war, the first casualty is truth. Kennedy made sure it wasn\u2019t the last.<\/p>\n

Do you have a story you\u2019d like to share? Get in touch by emailing Ross.Mccafferty@metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Share your views in the comments below.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Arrow
\nMORE: I\u2019m begging Stacey Solomon to put an end to her reality show<\/a><\/p>\n

Arrow
\nMORE: Evidence from Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner\u2019s lair revealed for first time<\/a><\/p>\n

Arrow
\nMORE: Marvel fans thought Thunderbolts would flop \u2013 the title change proves the opposite<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tNews Updates<\/p>\n

Stay on top of the headlines with daily email updates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kennedy was waved off when he told military censors that he could not continue to hold the story…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":83399,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5310],"tags":[13861,5762,2000,299,126,1824,2348,12,26,9032],"class_list":{"0":"post-83398","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-germany","8":"tag-adolf-hitler","9":"tag-columnists","10":"tag-eu","11":"tag-europe","12":"tag-features","13":"tag-germany","14":"tag-history","15":"tag-news","16":"tag-world","17":"tag-world-war-two"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114469763023652422","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83398","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83398"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83398\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}