German civilians gather around a British tank, Hamburg station, May 1945

In February 2020, the last British military base in Germany was handed back to German armed forces, following a decision taken in 2010 as the result of a Strategic Defence and Security Review. Thus ended the British Army’s 75-year term of service there, which had started at the end of the Second World War. Over that time the British Army’s relationship with Germany had been through a dramatic series of shifts – transitioning from Foe to Friend, as the title of a new exhibition at the National Army Museum puts it. This photograph, showing soldiers lounging on their tank and citizens going about their daily business, was taken outside Hamburg railway station in May 1945. The relaxed scen