During the battle for Greece, Royal Air Force Squadron Leader Marmaduke Thomas St. John “Pat” Pattle, flying a Hawker Hurricane, shoots down three German fighters, and then is himself shot down by Messerschmitt Bf-110s. He crashes into the Aegean Sea. Officially credited with 23 aerial victories, he may have had as many as 20 more, which would have made him the RAF’s leading ace of World War II; however, most records are lost when the British evacuate Greece.
In the wake of a major Chinese military shakeup, the head of U.S. Space Command warned of China’s “breathtakingly fast” advances in space during visits to Japan and South Korea. Gen. Stephen N. Whiting’s trip to the Indo-Pacific is his first overseas visit since taking command of SPACECOM in January.