8th Oct, 2025 10:00
Photographs & Autographs, Historical Documents & Artefacts, Einstein's Violin & Bicycle Saddle
World War II German Surrender Document. Signed, photostat Instrument of Surrender...
Sold for £4,200
World War II German Surrender Document. A historically important, signed, photostat Instrument of Surrender of all German armed forces in Holland, in northwest Germany including all islands, and in Denmark, [Lüneburg Heath, near Hamburg, Germany], 18:30 hrs, 4 May 1945, black ink photostat on paper, giving the terms of the surrender in 7 numbered paragraphs, with facsimile signatures of British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery and Hans-Georg von Friedeburg, Commander-in-Chief of the German Kriegsmarine, and four other German signatories, inscribed, signed and dated in blue ink by Montgomery at upper margin, ‘Certified true Photostat copy. Montgomery of Alamein F.M.’, 32 x 19 cm, mounted below a signed official photograph of the same occasion, showing Montgomery outside with Admiral von Friedeburg, General Kinzel and Rear Admiral Wagner, signed in blue ink to lower margin, ‘Montgomery of Alamein’, 11 x 15 cm, framed and glazed, using archive board and conservation glass, 82 x 48 cm overall
(Quantity: 1)
Provenance: Acquired from Taylor Smith Ltd., Westerham, Kent; The estate of Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, archived by Captain Noel W. Chavasse, ADC to Field Marshal Montgomery 1943-1946.
On 4 May 1945 at Lüneburg Heath, east of Hamburg, Field Marshal Montgomery of Alamein accepted the unconditional surrender of the German forces in the Netherlands, in northwest Germany including all islands, and in Denmark and all naval ships in those areas. The surrender preceded the end of World War II in Europe and was signed in a carpeted tent at Montgomery's headquarters on the Timeloberg hill at Wendisch Evern.
Lüneburg had been captured by the British forces on 18 April 1945, with Montgomery establishing his headquarters at a villa in the village of Häcklingen. A German delegation arrived at his tactical headquarters on the Timeloberg hill by car on 3 May, having been sent by Groß Admiral Karl Dönitz who had been nominated President and Supreme Commander of the German armed forces by Adolf Hitler in his last will and testament on 29 April. Dönitz was aware of the allied occupation zones intended for Germany from a plan that had fallen into German hands. He therefore hoped that protracted partial and local surrender negotiations might buy time for troops and refugees in the east to seek refuge from the Red Army, whilst holding open a pocket to provide sanctuary on the west bank of the River Elbe.
Dönitz did not think it appropriate to negotiate personally with a Field Marshal as he had become the head of state following the death of Adolf Hitler on 30 April. He therefore sent the delegation, headed by the new Commander-in-Chief of the German Navy, Admiral Hans-Georg von Friedeburg. Montgomery refused an initial offer to surrender Army Group Vistula which was being cut off to the east by the Red Army and demanded the unconditional surrender of all forces on his northern and western flanks. The Germans stated that they did not have the authority to accept Montgomery's terms. However they agreed to return to their headquarters to obtain permission from Dönitz.
The German officers returned the next day at 18:00 with an additional delegate, (Colone! Fritz Poleck) representing the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, (the German armed forces high command). Von Friedeburg was ushered into Montgomery's command caravan for confirmation that they were ready to sign. For the surrender ceremony Montgomery sat at the head of a table with an army blanket draped over it and two BBC microphones in front of him; he called on each delegate in turn to sign the instrument of surrender document at 18:30. The surrender ceremony was filmed by the British Pathé News and recorded for broadcast on radio by the BBC with a commentary by the Australian war correspondent Chester Wilmot. The American CBS correspondent Bill Downs was awarded the National Headliner's Club Award for his broadcast coverage of the surrender after months of following Montgomery's campaign.
Bill Downs described the surrender thus: "When Monty entered the tent, the Germans snapped to attention like puppets. He put on his spectacles, took up the papers and said: 'I will now read out the terms of the surrender.' The Germans sat like statues, not a flicker of any kind of emotion on their faces. Solemnly, but with a note of triumph in his voice, Monty read the terms of surrender. And then, one by one, the Germans signed. This was intended to be the original surrender document to be signed by the Allied and German high command to signal the end of the war in Europe.
The piece of paper had to be rejected after Montgomery made a mistake with the date, which he crossed out and initialled, and so another copy of the document was used. Both the first and second versions are near identical, except for the date error, and both have the amendment by Montgomery under the first term (in facsimile in this Photostat). The original of the first version should have been discarded but was retrieved by Captain Noel W. Chavasse, who made a photostat copy. This is that original and unique photostat copy, hand-signed as authentic by Montgomery.
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Conditions Of Sale And Business
Terms and Conditions of Sale
1. (a) Dominic Winter (Auctioneers) Ltd ("the Auctioneer") sells as agents for the seller (except where otherwise stated) and as such is not responsible for any default by buyer or seller.
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(b) Where goods are bought at auction by a buyer who has entered into an agreement with another or others that the other or others (or some of them) shall abstain from bidding for the goods and the buyer or other party or one of the other parties is a dealer as defined in the Auctions (Bidding Agreements) Act 1927 and 1969 the buyer warrants that the goods are bought bona fide on a joint account.
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(b) The buyer may be required to pay down during the course of the sale the whole or any part of the total sum due, and if he fails to do so after such request the lot or lots may at the Auctioneer's absolute discretion be put up again and resold immediately.
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(d) The Auctioneer may at his discretion agree credit terms with a buyer and extend the time limits for collection in special cases but otherwise payment shall be deemed to have been made only after the Auctioneer has received cash or funds by bank transfer or a sterling banker's draft or the buyer's cheque or debit/credit card payment has been cleared.
(e) All sums due to the Auctioneer shall be paid as shown and he reserves the right to charge interest which shall accrue at the rate of 4% over such base lending rate of National Westminster Bank Plc as shall be in force at the date that interest becomes due, such sum to be calculated per annum from day to day on all amounts due but unpaid. This right shall be exercisable without prejudice to any other right of the Auctioneer.
5. (a) If the buyer fails to pay for or take away any lots pursuant to clause 4 or breaches any other condition of that clause the Auctioneer as agent for the seller shall be entitled after consultation with the seller to exercise one or other of the following rights:
(i) Rescind the sale of that or any other lots sold to the buyer who defaults and re-sell the lot or lots whereupon the defaulting buyer shall pay to the Auctioneer any shortfall between the proceeds of that sale after deduction of costs or re-sale and the total sum due. Any surplus shall belong to the seller.
(ii) Proceed for damages for breach of contract.
(b) Without prejudice to the Auctioneer's rights hereunder if any lot or lots are not collected within five days or such longer period as the Auctioneer may have agreed otherwise, the Auctioneer may charge the buyer a storage charge up to £1.00 per lot per day.
6. (a) The seller shall be entitled to place a reserve on any lot and the Auctioneer shall have the right to bid on behalf of the seller for any lot on which a reserve has been placed. A seller may not bid on any lot on which he has placed a reserve.
(b) Where any lot fails to sell, the Auctioneer shall notify the seller accordingly. The seller shall make arrangements either to re-offer the lot for sale or to collect the lot and may be asked to pay a commission not exceeding 50% of the selling commission and any special expenses incurred in cataloguing the lot.
(c) If such arrangements are not made within seven days of the notification the Auctioneer is empowered to sell the lot without reserve by auction or by private treaty and to receive from the seller the normal selling commission and special expenses.
7. Any representation or statement by the Auctioneer in any catalogue, brochure or advertisement of forthcoming sales as to authorship, attribution, genuineness, origin, date, age, provenance, condition or estimated selling price is a statement of opinion only. Every person interested should exercise and rely on his own judgement as to such matters and neither the Auctioneer nor his servants or agents are responsible for the correctness of such opinions. No warranty whatsoever is given by the Auctioneer or the seller in respect of any lot and any express or implied warranties are hereby excluded.
8. (a) Notwithstanding any other terms of these conditions, if within fourteen days of the sale the Auctioneer has received from the buyer of any lot notice in writing that in his/her view the lot is a deliberate forgery and within fourteen days after such notification the buyer returns the same to the Auctioneer in the same condition as at the time of the sale and satisfies the Auctioneer that considered in the light of the entry in the catalogue the lot is a deliberate forgery then the sale of the lot will be rescinded and the purchase price of the same refunded. "A deliberate forgery" means a lot made with intention to deceive.
(b) A buyer's claim under this condition shall be limited to any amount paid to the Auctioneer for the lot and for the purpose of this condition the buyer shall be the person to whom the original invoice was made out by the Auctioneer.
9. Lots may be removed during the sale after full settlement in accordance with 4.d. hereof.
10. All goods delivered to the Auctioneer's premises will be deemed to be delivered for sale by auction unless otherwise stated in writing and will be catalogued and sold at the Auctioneer's discretion and accepted by the Auctioneer subject to all these conditions. In the case of miscellaneous books, maps and other items, the Auctioneer reserves the right to extract and dispose of items that, in the opinion of the Auctioneer at his absolute discretion, have no saleable value and, therefore, might detract from the saleability of the rest of the lot and the Auctioneer shall incur no liability to the seller in respect of the items disposed of. By delivering the goods to the auctioneer for inclusion in his auction sales each seller acknowledges that he/she accepts and agrees to all the conditions.
11. (a) Unless otherwise instructed in writing, all goods on the Auctioneer's premises and in his custody will be held insured against the risk of fire, burglary, water damage and accidental breakage or damage. The value of the goods so covered will be the hammer price, or in the case of unsold lots the lower estimate, or in the case of loss or damage prior to the sale that which the specialist staff of the Auctioneer shall in their absolute discretion estimate to be the auction value of such goods.
(b) The Auctioneer shall not be responsible for damage to or the loss, theft, or destruction of any goods not so insured because of the seller's written instructions whether caused by negligence or otherwise.
(c) Any liability of the Auctioneer for any claim arising from loss or damage of any kind in respect of goods whether caused by negligence or otherwise including any claims for compensation will be limited to the amount of insurance cover effected in accordance with the provisions of clause 11.a. above.
12. The Auctioneer shall remit the proceeds of the sale to the seller thirty days after the date of the auction provided that the Auctioneer has received the total sum due from the buyer. In all other cases the Auctioneer will remit the proceeds of the sale to the seller within seven days of the receipt by the Auctioneer of the total sum due. The Auctioneer will not be deemed to have received the total sum due until after any funds received from the buyer have cleared. In the event of the Auctioneer exercising his right to rescind the sale his obligation to the seller hereunder lapses.
13. In the case of the seller withdrawing instructions to the Auctioneer to sell any lot or lots, the Auctioneer may charge the seller a fee of 12.5% of the Auctioneer's middle estimate of the auction price of the lot withdrawn together with Value Added Tax thereon and any expenses incurred in respect of the lot or lots.
14. If, on collation, any named items in the catalogue prove defective, in text or illustration, the buyer may reject the lot provided he/she returns it within fourteen days stating the defect in writing. This however will not apply in the case of unnamed items, periodicals, autograph letters, manuscripts, music, maps, atlases, prints or drawings, nor in respect of damage to bindings, stains, foxing, marginal wormholes or other defects not affecting the completeness of the text, nor in respect of lack of list of plates, inserted advertisements, cancels or subsequently published volumes, supplements, appendices or plates or error in the enumerating of the plates, nor in respect of defects mentioned in the catalogue or announced at the time of sale.
15. The Auctioneer accepts no responsibility in connection with the commissioning of his staff to bid for any lots. Reserves, and commission bids given by telephone are accepted only at the sender's risk and must be confirmed in writing before the date of the sale. Lots will always be bought as cheaply as is allowed by other bids and such reserves as are on our books.
16. Buyers are advised that a storage charge of £1.00 per lot per day plus Value Added Tax at the current rate will be levied on all purchases not cleared within fourteen working days of the sale. After this period the buyer will be responsible for loss or damage.
17. Artist's Resale Rights ("Droit de Suite"). Lots marked with "AR" or another appropriate symbol and referenced as such in the catalogue are subject to the Artist's Resale Right law. The buyer agrees to pay the Auctioneer an amount equal to the resale royalty and the Auctioneer will pay such amount to the artist's collecting agent. Resale royalty applies where the Hammer Price is 1,000 Euro or more and the amount cannot be more than 12,500 Euro per lot.
The amount is calculated as follows:
Royalty For the portion of the Hammer Price (in Euro)
4.00% up to 50,000
3.00% between 50,000.01 and 200,000
1.00% between 200,000.01 and 350,000
0.50% between 350,000.01 and 500,000
0.25% in excess of 500,000
Invoices will be issued in Pounds Sterling. For the purposes of calculating the resale royalty the Pounds Sterling/Euro rate of exchange will be the European Central Bank reference rate on the day of the sale. Please refer to the DACS website www.dacs.org.uk for further details.
18. These conditions shall be governed by and construed in accordance with English Law.
Buyer's Premium :
The buyer's premium is 22%, except those lots asterisked (*) in the title for which Value Added Tax (VAT) will be added to the premium, resulting in a buyer's premium of 26.4% inclusive of VAT. Eligible items include manuscripts, prints, photographs, drawings, framed maps, paintings, pens and other objects which are subject to VAT at a rate of 20% on the buyer's premium as part of the Auctioneers Margin Scheme. VAT zero-rated items such as books, unframed maps and albums are not subject to VAT on the buyer's premium.
Live Auction Charges
An additional commission of 3% plus VAT (3.6% inclusive of VAT) on the hammer price is payable if you use the live auction bidding facility on the Dominic Winter Auctioneers website (dominicwinter.co.uk). This charge will be added to your invoice automatically.
An additional commission of 4.95% plus VAT (5.94% inclusive of VAT) on the hammer price is payable if you use the live auction bidding facility on the ATG Media website (the-saleroom.com). This charge will be added to your invoice automatically.
An additional commission of 3% plus VAT (3.6% inclusive of VAT) on the hammer is payable if you use the live auction bidding facility on the Invaluable website (invaluable.com). This charge will be added to your invoice automatically.
Payment (UK Buyers)
Payment is preferred by direct Bank Transfer to our bank account. Our bank details will be supplied to you with your invoice.
Payment can be made in cash at the Cashier's Office, either during or after the sale. Alternatively, you can pay by cheque (Pounds Sterling only), please allow 5 working days for the cheque to clear before collection of goods.
Credit or Debit Card payments will not be accepted by telephone unless by prior arrangement with the auctioneers. Card payments can be made in person at our premises but must be accompanied by relevant ID confirming address details. We do not accept payments by American Express.
Payment (Overseas Buyers)
Payment must be made by direct Bank Transfer to our bank account. Our bank details will be supplied to you on your invoice. No card payments will be accepted unless by special prior arrangements with the auctioneers. All transfers must state the relevant invoice number. The amount we receive must be the total due after currency conversion and the deduction of any bank charges (normally £7).
In-House Packing and Shipping
For items that are straightforward* to pack & ship, we offer an in-house shipping service with DHL. For any larger or fragile items, we have provided our recommended third party shipping companies below.
*This is at the discretion of the company.
Your auction invoice will need to be settled in full before collection by a third party shipping company.
It is the responsibility of the customer to arrange and coordinate their own shipping, whether through our in-house service (where applicable) or via a third-party provider.
(Please note all shippers are third parties and not part of Dominic Winter Auctioneers)
Contacts:
Delivery of large items: furniture, pictures, works of art, antiques etc
Mailboxes Etc., Swindon
Tel: 01793 525009
E-mail: swindon@centres.mbe.uk
Website: www.mbe.co.uk
Pack and Send, Oxford
Tel: 01865 260610
E-Mail: oxford@packsend.co.uk
Website: www.packsend.co.uk
Simon Hall Freight
Tel: 01386 858555
E-mail: enquiries@simonhalllimited.com
Website: www.simonhalllimited.com
Alban Shipping
Tel: 01582 493099
E-mail: info@albanshipping.co.uk
Website: www.albanshipping.co.uk
Jentel Packing
Tel: 01268 776777
E-mail: sales@jentelpacking.co.uk
Website: www.jentelpacking.co.uk
Delivery of Works of Art
Aardvark Art Services
Tel: 01253 794673
E-mail: info@aardvarkartservices.com
Website: www.aardvarkartservices.com
The following items will need to be outsourced to a third party:
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Framed and glazed items (Packing departments discretion)
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Quantity lots
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Multi-framed job lots
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Oversized bundles of prints
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Moulded plaster frames
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Fragile items
Banned objects for packing and posting:
We do not ship the following under any circumstances:
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Firearms
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Swords
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Bladed item
UK Shipping
We partner with DHL Express for our UK delivery service. The cost for this service is added to your invoice. Purchases up to £500 are subject to a minimum charge of £30 plus VAT per parcel. Thereafter, an extra £5 plus VAT will be added for each additional £500 purchase value increment. There may be an additional charge if extra time/packing materials are required.
Once we have sent your purchase, you will receive a notification from DHL EXPRESS ON-DEMAND DELIVERY and email/SMS updates about your shipment's progress and estimated delivery date/time. You will be able to amend the time of your delivery if required.
Shipments to the Highlands and Islands may be significantly more expensive. Please contact us for a quote before bidding.
Overseas Shipping
We partner with DHL Express for overseas shipments. We are happy to provide packing and shipping quotes on request. We are able to offer pre-sale shipping quotes, however this will be an approximate price only.
Once we have sent your purchase, you will receive a notification from DHL EXPRESS ON-DEMAND DELIVERY and email/SMS updates about your shipment's progress and estimated delivery date/time. You will be able to amend the time of your delivery if required.
For items under the value of £250 we can send via Royal Mail International Signed-For Service (2kg maximum weight). Charges are variable.
PLEASE NOTE:
On arrival of the goods in your country, Import Duties & Taxes may be payable before goods are released to you. These charges vary for each country and are entirely your responsibility, we have no way of knowing what they will be. If you do not pay these charges, your goods will be returned to us.
Export Licences and CITES Permits
These documents may be required to ship some lots out of the UK. Your shipper (DHL Express or other) can advise and apply for these on your behalf. It is the buyer's responsibility to ensure that the shipment is lawfully exported out of the selling location and can be lawfully imported to the country of destination. We can assist with export licences only, if required, for a fee: please contact us for more details if you require assistance.
Sustainability
We reuse packaging and cardboard boxes where possible for all our shipments. When packing fragile items we use a 100% recyclable filler.
We proudly partner with DHL Express, utilising sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) via the GoGreen Plus service to deliver your orders. By investing in sustainable aviation fuel, we actively reduce the CO2e emissions associated with our shipments, minimising our carbon footprint. We believe it's our responsibility to do what's right for the planet, and we want to empower our customers to make a positive impact too. Together, let's embrace sustainable practices and contribute to a greener future.
SAF is currently the primary route to reducing carbon emissions in aviation, so this is the most effective way to help our customers make their orders more sustainable. Embracing SAF is not only essential for meeting sustainability goals but also paves the way towards a greener future in the air transportation industry.
For more information on DHL's GoGreen Plus option please visit:
https://group.dhl.com/en/media-relations/press-releases/2023/dhl-express-and-world-energy-agree-to-global-partnership.html
