The German surrender, said Churchill, was “the signal for the greatest outburst of joy in the history of mankind.” London was the epicenter of that celebration, and the prime minister got caught in it on his way to the House of Commons to make the victory announcement. “Instantly, he was surrounded by people—people running, standing on tiptoe, holding up babies so that they could be told later they had seen him, and shouting affectionately the absurd little nursery maid name, ‘Winnie, Winnie!’ ” wrote London diarist Mollie Panter-Downes.
