Lüneburg had been captured by the British forces on 18 April 1945 and Montgomery established his headquarters at a villa in the village of Häcklingen. A German delegation arrived at his tactical headquarters on the Timeloberg hill on 3 May, having been sent by Grand 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 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.
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