The Red Army began the Uman–Botoșani Offensive in Ukraine. It would become one of hte most successful Soviet offensives of the war. On this day they took Iziaslav and Yampil.
The 77th Indian Infantry Brigade, the Chindits, was inserted in Burma by glider.
Flight Officer Chuck Yeager was shot down by Unteroffizier Irmfried Klotz, east of Bordeaux, France, on his eighth combat mission. Russ Spicer, who would, like Yeager, remain in the Air Force after the war, was also shot down. Unlike Yeager, Spicer did not live a long life, dying at age 59 just after he retired from the Air Force as a Maj. Gen.
Irmfried Klotz did not survive the war. He was actually a fairly green pilot, and the FW190 he was flying was shot down by another P51 in the same dogfight. He bailed out, but his parachute did not open.
Yeager would escape to Spain by March 30, and then return to action. Spicer spent the rest of the war in a POW camp.
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