World War II Database

• Home
• » Events
• » WW2 Timeline
• » 15 Apr 1941

• Yugoslavian 2nd Army surrendered Sarajevo to the Germans, effectively ending the country's official resistance; many fighters, however, fled into the mountains and would later fight as guerrillas. In Greece, German aircraft bombed the British RAF airfield at Larisa at dawn, destroying 10 Blenheim aircraft on the ground. Troops of Leibstandarte SS Regiment took the road to Greneva, isolating the Greek Epirus Army which was attempting to move from Albania back into Greece. This move also exposed the flank of the Allied Mount Olympus Line; in response, British General Wilson ordered the Mount Olympus Line abandoned at 1000 hours, with Australian and New Zealand troops acting as rear guards for several more days as the remaining Allies fell back to the Thermopylae Line. As the situation grew dire, British Admiral Cunningham begins began considering a general evacuation from Greece. ww2dbase [Balkans Campaign | TH]
• Starting at 2300 hours, a heavy German air raid by 200 Luftwaffe bombers attacked Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The attack would last until 0500 hours on the next day. ww2dbase [Battle of Britain | TH]
• Franklin Roosevelt approved the formation of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) of combat pilots in China. ww2dbase [Franklin Roosevelt | CPC]
• Italian submarine Tazzoli sank British ship Aurillac 500 miles west of Lisbon, Portugal, killing 1. ww2dbase [CPC]
• 1,000 Italian troops attacked Tobruk, Libya at 1730 hours, overrunning Australian defensive lines, but they were driven back at 1815 hours the arrival of an Australian reserve company and heavy artillery. 250 Italians were killed and 113 were captured in this failed attack. ww2dbase [Siege of Tobruk | CPC]
• Flying in a Bf 109 fighter en route to Theo Osterkamp's birthday party, Adolf Galland took a detour toward Britain in search of targets. After shooting down one Spitfire fighter, he was shot down by another Spitfire. He was rescued from the water a few hours later. ww2dbase [Adolf Galland | CPC]

• Alessandro Malaspina departed Le Verdon-sur-Mer, France at 0805 hours and arrived at La Pallice, La Rochelle, France at 1650 hours. ww2dbase [Alessandro Malaspina | Le Verdon-sur-Mer, Aquitaine | CPC]
• Comandante Cappellini departed La Pallice, La Rochelle, France at 0738 hours for exercises and returned at 1115 hours. ww2dbase [Comandante Cappellini | La Rochelle, Poitou-Charentes | CPC]

• HMS Edinburgh completed escort duties with Allied convoy SL.69 and arrived at Scapa Flow, Scotland, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [Scapa Flow | Edinburgh | Scapa Flow, Scotland | CPC]
• British destroyer HMS Achates departed Greenock, Scotland, United Kingdom at 0840 hours for Scapa Flow to the north, but was rerouted to Loch Alsh at 1400 hours. ww2dbase [Greenock, Scotland | CPC]

15 Apr 1941 Interactive Map