European theatre of World War II major German forces in the west were encircled and trapped in the Ruhr. On April 27, 1945, as Allied forces closed in on Milan, Mussolini was captured by Italian Partisans. He was trying to flee Italy to Switzerland and was traveling with a German anti-air battalion. On April 28, Mussolini and several of the other Fascists captured with him were taken to Dongo and executed by firing squad. The bodies were then taken to Milan and unceremoniously strung up in front of a filling station. Hitler, learning of Mussolini's death, realized that the end had finally come. He remained in
Australia in the War of 1939–1945 industry and science. "Australia in the War of 1939–1945" includes a series on the history of the Australian military medical services and the problems encountered by these services during the war. In April 1943 the Australian War Cabinet decided that an official history of Australia's involvement in World War II should be written. Gavin Long was appointed general editor of the prospective series on the recommendation of C.E.W. Bean, the editor of the "Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918", in January 1943. Long presented a provisional plan of the series to the War Cabinet which approved it