​​​By May 1945, the Canadian advance toward the North Sea coast faced growing resistance as German marines and Luftwaffe personnel joined the fight. Despite heavy losses, the leading troops of the 8th Canadian Infantry Brigade pushed on, nearing Aurich by 3 May. That night, Lieutenant-Colonel Gus Taschereau of Le Régiment de la Chaudière arrived at Brigadier Roberts' headquarters with a German Colonel, Aurich’s Mayor, and a civilian under a white flag. They sought to negotiate the surrender of the town without damage. 

​However, none of the German forces had the authority to arrange a military surrender. Roberts dismissed them, instructing them to return by noon on 4 May with proper authority. He agreed to halt fire in the meantime, warning that failure to surrender would result in heavy bombing and shelling. The German Colonel returned the next morning, reporting that Aurich's Garrison Commander was ready to negotiate. But no formal agreement could be reached, as Germany had not yet officially surrendered. 

​On 4 May, news of Germany’s unconditional surrender reached the Allied command via a BBC broadcast at 20:35, confirmed shortly afterward by an official signal from the 21st Army Group (British troops). On 5 May, Roberts traveled to Aurich with a military escort to bring German General Erich von Straube to Bad Zwischenahn. There, von Straube surrendered German forces facing the 2nd Canadian Corps to General Simonds, signing the surrender document in a brief, solemn ceremony. 

​During the return journey, silence filled the jeep until von Straube quietly asked Roberts what he had done before the war. The question unsettled Roberts, forcing him to consider a future beyond the battlefield—a prospect that had seemed distant amidst the war’s intensity. When von Straube inquired further, asking if Roberts had been a professional soldier, Roberts replied simply, “No, I wasn’t a regular soldier. Very few Canadians were. In civilian life, I made ice cream.”​