1910 | 1911 | 1912 | 1913 | 1914 | 1915 | 1916 | 1917 | 1918 | 1919
1920 | 1921 | 1922 | 1923 | 1924 | 1925 | 1926 | 1927 | 1928 | 1929
1930 | 1931 | 1932 | 1933 | 1934 | 1935 | 1936 | 1937 | 1938 | 1939
1940 | 1941 | 1942 | 1943 | 1944 | 1945 | 1946 | 1947 | 1948 | 1949

1 Jan 1915
  • Giulio Cesare was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [Giulio Cesare | CPC]
  • Conte di Cavour was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [Conte di Cavour | CPC]
4 Jan 1915
  • Kurt Fricke was awarded Iron Cross 2nd Class. ww2dbase [Kurt Frike | CPC]
8 Jan 1915

Germany
17 Jan 1915

Philippines
  • Henry Arnold's daughter Lois Elizabeth Arnold was born at Fort William McKinley in Manila, Philippine Islands. ww2dbase [Henry Arnold | Manila | CPC]
19 Jan 1915

United Kingdom
  • Two German Navy Zeppelins made the first airship attack on the United Kingdom. ww2dbase [AC]
25 Jan 1915

Korea
  • General Seigo Inokuchi was named the commanding officer of the Japanese Chosen Army in occupied Korea, relieving Sadayoshi Ando. ww2dbase [CPC]
29 Jan 1915
  • Erwin Rommel led the German 9.Kompanie in an attack that broke through French lines, but he soon found his unit surrounded. He broke out and returned to German lines. He would later be awarded the Iron Cross Second Class for this action. ww2dbase [Erwin Rommel | CPC]
1 Feb 1915
  • Queen Elizabeth was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [Queen Elizabeth | CPC]
13 Feb 1915

Burma
15 Feb 1915
  • Russian Sikorsky reconnaissance bombers attacked targets in the Vistula-Dobrzhani area of Poland. ww2dbase [AC]
17 Feb 1915
  • Richard O'Connor was Mentioned in Despatches. ww2dbase [Richard O'Connor | CPC]
18 Feb 1915
  • Richard O'Connor was awarded the Military Cross. ww2dbase [Richard O'Connor | CPC]
19 Feb 1915
  • British Vice-Admiral Sackville Carden commenced the naval attack on the Dardanelles, which all hoped would be sufficient to quell the Turks without recourse to an extensive landing by the army. Twelve capital ships in three divisions shelled the forts at the mouth of the channel, Sedd-al-Bahr on the European side and Kum Kale on the Asiatic side. Bad weather rendered the attack ineffective, and it was not resumed until 25 Feb 1915, when the fortifications were battered into submission and occupied. ww2dbase [AC]
United States
21 Feb 1915
  • The French army decided to introduce a steel helmet in place of the steel skull cap worn under the kepi. The first design by Georges Scott proved too costly to manufacture, and a simplified pattern, the Adrian helmet, was produced on the orders of a Supply Department official of that name. ww2dbase [AC]
22 Feb 1915

United Kingdom
  • Winston Churchill established the Landships Committee to investigate the potential of armored vehicles. ww2dbase [Winston Churchill | CPC]
23 Feb 1915
25 Feb 1915
  • Erwin Rommel received the Württembergische Goldene Verdienstmedaille award. ww2dbase [Erwin Rommel | CPC]
8 Mar 1915
  • Warspite was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [Warspite | CPC]
9 Mar 1915

United Kingdom
10 Mar 1915
  • The first British bombing raids in tactical support of ground operations were carried out against railway installations in the Menin and Courtrai area in Belgium. ww2dbase [AC]
12 Mar 1915

United Kingdom
  • The British Foreign Secretary, Sir Edward Grey, signed a secret pact with the Russian Ambassador in London, England, United Kingdom giving Russia the right to post-war control of Constantinople and the Turkish Straits, in return for recognition of British and French aspirations in the remainder of the Ottoman Empire. ww2dbase [London, England | AC]
22 Mar 1915
  • Erwin Rommel was awarded the Iron Cross Second Class medal for his actions of 29 Jan 1915. He became the first Leutnant in his regiment to win this award. ww2dbase [Erwin Rommel | CPC]
1 Apr 1915

France
8 Apr 1915
  • Erwin Rommel received the Military Merit Order award. ww2dbase [Erwin Rommel | CPC]
19 Apr 1915
  • Kirishima was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [Kirishima | CPC]
  • Haruna was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [Haruna | CPC]
21 Apr 1915
  • The French Army decided to issue an order that all men serving at the front should wear the new light blue (bleu clair) uniform. ww2dbase [AC]
22 Apr 1915
  • The Germans made the first gas (initially chlorine) attack on French troops, on the front between Bixschoote and Langemaerck, in Belgium. ww2dbase [AC]
United States
24 Apr 1915

Photo(s) dated 24 Apr 1915
Battlecruiser Haruna at Kobe, Japan, 24 Apr 1915
26 Apr 1915
  • British Second Lieutenant W. B. Moorhouse RFC was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross after his B.E.2c was shot down during a raid over Courtrai, Belgium. ww2dbase [AC]
  • Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary but not Germany. ww2dbase [AC]
United States
27 Apr 1915

United States
1 May 1915

Taiwan
  • General Baron Teibi Ando was named the governor-general of Taiwan. ww2dbase [CPC]
United Kingdom
7 May 1915
  • Walther von Brauchitsch was awarded the Württemberg Friedrich Order with Swords. ww2dbase [Walther von Brauchitsch | CPC]
9 May 1915
15 May 1915

United Kingdom
  • Oliver Leese joined the Colstream Guards regiment of the British Army. ww2dbase [Oliver Leese | CPC]
18 May 1915

United States
21 May 1915
  • The French army officially adopted the Adrian helmet. ww2dbase [AC]
22 May 1915
  • The Council of Ministers of the Ottoman Empire told its senior army commanders that they were authorised to crush without mercy any armed resistance they encounter from the local population in the war zone. ww2dbase [AC]
25 May 1915
  • The Ottoman Minister of the Interior, Mehmed Talât, announced that Armenians living near the war zones would be deported to Syria and Mosul. ww2dbase [AC]
Japan
  • Haruki Isayama graduated from the Japanese Army Academy in Tokyo, Japan. ww2dbase [Haruki Isayama | Tokyo | CPC]
29 May 1915

Photo(s) dated 29 May 1915
New York underway, 29 May 1915
31 May 1915

United Kingdom
  • The first airship raid was made on London, England, United Kingdom by German Army Zeppelin LZ 38. Bombs fell on the East End of the capital, killing seven civilians and injuring at least fourteen more. ww2dbase [London, England | AC]
1 Jun 1915
  • Provence was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [Provence | CPC]
2 Jun 1915

Photo(s) dated 2 Jun 1915
Canadian troops with Ross rifles, Camp Barriefield, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, 2 Jun 1915
5 Jun 1915

United States
  • Pedro del Valle graduated from the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, United States and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the US Marine Corps. ww2dbase [Pedro del Valle | Annapolis, Maryland | CPC]
6 Jun 1915
  • The first airship to be destroyed in air combat was the Zeppelin LZ 37 which was attacked by British Flight Sub-Lietenant R. A. J. Warneford (No. 1 Squadron RNAS) in a Morane-Saulnier monoplane. Warneford, flying above the airship, dropped six 20-lb Hales bombs, the last of which exploded on the Zeppelin, causing it to crash near Ghent, Belgium. ww2dbase [AC]
12 Jun 1915
  • Omar Bradley was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant. ww2dbase [Omar Bradley | CPC]
19 Jun 1915

United States
  • Battleship Arizona was launched from Brooklyn Navy Yard, New York, United States. ww2dbase [Arizona | Brooklyn, New York | CPC]
Photo(s) dated 19 Jun 1915
The launching of Arizona, Brooklyn Navy Yard, New York, United States, 19 Jun 1915
11 Jul 1915
  • The German cruiser, SMS Königsberg, which had been blockaded in the Rufiji delta in East Africa by a squadron on twenty-five Allied vessels for half a year, was finally sunk by two shallow-draught monitors. Her crew and guns, dismounted from the ship, joined the forces of Colonel Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck. ww2dbase [AC]
29 Jul 1915

Germany
30 Jul 1915
7 Aug 1915

Photo(s) dated 7 Aug 1915
Australian Army Captain Leslie Morshead in a trench during Battle of Lone Pine, Gallipoli, Turkey, circa 6-10 Aug 1915
12 Aug 1915
  • British Flight Commander C. H. K. Edmonds RNAS became the first pilot to attack a ship with an air-launched torpedo. ww2dbase [AC]
13 Aug 1915
  • Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg agreed to support an Austro-Hungarian plan to establish a new Habsburg dominated state, after the war, on captured Polish territory, but only on condition that Austria also agreed to become politically subordinated to Berlin. ww2dbase [AC]
14 Aug 1915
  • Remy Van Lierde was born in Overboelare, Belgium. ww2dbase [Remy Van Lierde | CPC]
21 Aug 1915
23 Aug 1915
  • British Captain A. J. Liddell RFC was awarded the Victoria Cross for valour while flying a RE- 5 aircraft. ww2dbase [AC]
24 Aug 1915

Photo(s) dated 24 Aug 1915
Battleship Fuso undergoing trials, 24 Aug 1915
31 Aug 1915

Photo(s) dated 31 Aug 1915
Launching ways for battleship California (future USS New Mexico) New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn, New York, United States, 31 Aug 1915
1 Sep 1915
  • Bretagne was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [Bretagne | CPC]
Taiwan
  • Rear Admiral Moshiro Iwasaki was named the Chief of Staff of the Mako naval port at Pescadores islands, Taiwan. ww2dbase [Mako Guard District | Mako, Hoko | CPC]
5 Sep 1915
  • Tsar Nicholas II, a notoriously inept military leader and tactician, assumed personal command of the Russian Armies. ww2dbase [AC]
16 Sep 1915
  • Ivan Bagramyan volunteered for the Russian Army. ww2dbase [Ivan Bagramyan | CPC]
18 Sep 1915
  • Erwin Rommel was promoted to the rank of Oberleutnant. ww2dbase [Erwin Rommel | CPC]
27 Sep 1915

United States
  • Joseph Stilwell went on leave in the United States. ww2dbase [Joseph Stilwell | CPC]
1 Oct 1915 United States
  • Joseph Stilwell was assigend to the Department of Modern Languages at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, United States. ww2dbase [Joseph Stilwell | West Point, New York | CPC]
10 Oct 1915

France
  • Robert Greim achieved his first kill as an observation plane pilot over France and was awarded the Iron Cross 1st Class medal. ww2dbase [Robert von Greim | CPC]
14 Oct 1915

United States Photo(s) dated 14 Oct 1915
Workers at the keel laying ceremony of battleship California (future New Mexico), New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn, New York, United States, 14 Oct 1915US Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels at the keel laying  ceremony of battleship California (future New Mexico), New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn, New York, United States, 14 Oct 1915
19 Oct 1915
  • Barham was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [Barham | CPC]
20 Oct 1915

Photo(s) dated 20 Oct 1915
Yamashiro under construction in the No. 2 dock at Yokosuka, Japan, 20 Oct 1915
27 Oct 1915

Japan
  • Minoru Ota was assigned to battleship Fuso. ww2dbase [Minoru Ota | CPC]
30 Oct 1915

Photo(s) dated 30 Oct 1915
Launching of SMS Baden from Slip IV of F. Schichau Danzig shipyard, Danzig, 30 Oct 1915
6 Nov 1915
  • Piloted by Lieutenant Commander Henry Mustin, a Curtiss AB-2 aircraft made the first US catapult launch from USS North Carolina whilst the vessel was underway. ww2dbase [North Carolina | AC]
18 Nov 1915
  • Fuso was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [Fuso | CPC]
23 Nov 1915

Photo(s) dated 23 Nov 1915
Prince Morimasa at Emperor Taisho
2 Dec 1915 Japan
3 Dec 1915
  • Chuichi Nagumo was assigned to destroyer Sugi. ww2dbase [Chuichi Nagumo | CPC]
Japan
5 Dec 1915

China
  • Some members of the crew of Yingrui mutinied in support of Yuan Shikai's faction; the mutiny was suppressed and Yingrui remained under Nationalist control. ww2dbase [Yingrui | CPC]
11 Dec 1915
  • Douglas MacArthur was promoted to the rank of major. ww2dbase [Douglas MacArthur | CPC]
13 Dec 1915
  • Isoroku Yamamoto was promoted to the rank of lieutenant commander. ww2dbase [Isoroku Yamamoto | CPC]
  • Tamon Yamaguchi was promoted to the rank of sub-lieutenant. ww2dbase [Tamon Yamaguchi | CPC]
  • Kasuga was made the flagship of Destroyer Squadron 3. ww2dbase [Kasuga | CPC]
China
  • Vice Admiral Takeshi Takarabe succeeded Vice Admiral Reijiro Kawashima as the commanding officer of the Ryojun Military Port (previously known as Port Arthur; now Lushunkou, Liaoning Province, China), Kwantung Leased Territory in northeastern China. ww2dbase [Ryojun Guard District | Lushunkou, Liaoning | CPC]
Japan
  • Prince Hiroyasu was named the commanding officer of the 2nd Squadron. ww2dbase [Hiroyasu | CPC]
  • Captain Kesataro Kawahara was named the commanding officer of Settsu. ww2dbase [Settsu | CPC]
Taiwan
  • Admiral Teijiro Kuroi was named the commanding officer of the Mako naval port at Pescadores islands, Taiwan. ww2dbase [Mako Guard District | Mako, Hoko | CPC]
15 Dec 1915
16 Dec 1915

Japan
  • Masafumi Arima was promoted to the rank of midshipman. ww2dbase [Masafumi Arima | CPC]
19 Dec 1915
  • Sir Douglas Haig assumed command of the British forces in France. ww2dbase [AC]
21 Dec 1915

Photo(s) dated 21 Dec 1915
Japanese battlecruiser Kirishima at Sasebo, Japan, 21 Dec 1915Japanese battlecruiser Hiei at Sasebo, Japan, 21 Dec 1915
22 Dec 1915

Japan
23 Dec 1915
  • Lieutenant G. S. M. Insall of the British Royal Flying Corps was awarded the Victoria Cross for valour whilst flying his Vickers F.B.5 aircraft. ww2dbase [AC]

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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Winston Churchill, 1935


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