11 Apr 1941
  • Italian forces redoubled their efforts to link up with units in Albania. In northern Greece, German troops captured Vevi. In the evening, British, Australian, and New Zealand troops engaged German troops in Greece for the first time just south of Vevi, stopping the advance of Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler Regiment at Klidi Pass. ww2dbase [Invasion of Albania | TH]
  • 153 Luftwaffe aircraft bombed Bristol, England, United Kingdom; it was nicknamed the "Good Friday Raid". The city's docks, St Philip's Bridge, and residential areas were damaged. The city tramways power supply line was destroyed by the bomb that hit St Philip's Bridge; it was decided that the damage was too severe to repair and all the tram cars were soon to be scrapped for the war effort; none of the tram cars were preserved for historical purposes. ww2dbase [Battle of Britain | TH]
  • Italy and Hungary joined the German invasion of Yugoslavia. ww2dbase [Balkans Campaign | AC]
  • Erwin Rommel performed a flanking movement in Libya, cutting the road east of Bardia at 1300 hours; all attacks on the city itself, however, were repulsed. On the same day, German aircraft bombed Tobruk harbor, damaging British ship Draco. ww2dbase [Siege of Tobruk | CPC]
  • George Patton was made the commanding officer of the 2nd Armored Division. ww2dbase [George Patton | CPC]
  • German submarine U-124 sank Greek ship Aegeon 200 miles southwest of Freetown, Sierra Leone, British West Africa at 2100 hours; 4 were killed, 27 survived. ww2dbase [CPC]
  • German armored train Atlas arrived at Mönichkirchen, Germany (occupied Austria) to prepare the village for Adolf Hitler's arrival on the following day. ww2dbase [CPC]
  • Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini concluded their four-day meeting at Salzburg in occupied Austria, during which Hitler convinced Mussolini to remain in the war. ww2dbase [Benito Mussolini | CPC]
  • US President Franklin Roosevelt proclaimed that the Red Sea was to be no longer considered as a war zone so as to enable it to be used by American shipping. ww2dbase [Franklin Roosevelt | AC]
Atlantic Ocean
  • German submarine U-108 (Kapitänleutnant Klaus Scholtz) spotted the 16,568-ton armed British merchant cruiser HMS Rajputana (F 35) west of Reykjarvik, Iceland at 0945 hours. Rajputana had been patrolling at a high speed and was on a zigzag course. Meanwhile, U-108 was hampered by problems with the periscope, pack ice, and snow. U-108 managed to get in position to fire two torpedoes at 1808 hours, but both of them missed. ww2dbase [HM]
France
  • Athos Fraternale was made the commanding officer of Morosini, relieving Alfredo Criscuolo while at Bordeaux, France. ww2dbase [Morosini | Bordeaux, Aquitaine | CPC]
Germany
  • French Lieutenant Alain le Ray became the first Allied serviceman to escape from Colditz Castle, site of the prisoner of war camp Oflag IV-C, in Germany. ww2dbase [Colditz Castle | Colditz, Sachsen | CPC]
Greece
  • The damaged 8,324-ton Norwegian motor tanker Pericles, in service with the British Admiralty Royal Fleet Auxiliary, departed Suda Bay, Crete, Greece in tow at 1130 hours for Port Said, Egypt as a member of a convoy. ww2dbase [Crete | HM]
Malta
  • Destroyers HMS Jervis, HMS Janus, HMS Nubian, and HMS Mohawk of the British 14th Destroyer Flotilla arrived in Malta to act as a night striking force. ww2dbase [Malta Campaign | AC]
United States
  • Fearing that Britain might be invaded, the US Army Air Corps invited designs for a bomber capable of carrying out missions against Europe directly from the continental United States. The chosen design, the massive Convair B-36 Peacemaker, however, would not be completed until 1946. ww2dbase [AC]

11 Apr 1941 Interactive Map

Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, Hugh Martyr, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis




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Famous WW2 Quote
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Joachim von Ribbentrop, German Foreign Minister, Aug 1939


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