End of World War II in Europe eventually fled Europe using ratlines such as ODESSA. German forces leave Finland: On 25 April 1945, the last German formations withdrew from Finnish Lapland into occupied Norway. On 27 April 1945, the Raising the Flag on the Three-Country Cairn photograph was taken. Mussolini's death: On 25 April 1945, Italian partisans liberated Milan and Turin. On 27 April 1945, as Allied forces closed in on Milan, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini was captured by Italian partisans. It is disputed whether he was trying to flee from Italy to Switzerland (through the Splügen Pass), and was traveling with a German anti-aircraft battalion. On
Douglas MacArthur in World War II MacArthur created two new commands, AFMIDPAC under Lieutenant General Robert C. Richardson, Jr., and AFWESPAC under Lieutenant General Wilhelm D. Styer, which absorbed USASOS and USAFFE. This reorganization, which took some months to actually accomplish, was part of preparations for Operation Downfall, the invasion of Japan. The first phase, the invasion of Kyushu, known as Operation Olympic, was scheduled to commence on November 1, 1945. The invasion was pre-empted by the surrender of Japan in August 1945. On September 2, MacArthur accepted the formal Japanese surrender aboard , thus ending hostilities in World War II. In recognition of his role