Leutnant Raven Erik Freiherr von Barnekow (10 March 1897 – 8 December 1941) was a German World War I flying ace credited with eleven aerial victories.
Postwar, he emigrated to the United States and became romantically involved with movie star Kay Francis.
[1][2] Raven Erik Freiherr von Barnekow was born 10 March 1897[2] in Schwerin, the German Empire.
He was then transferred to Jagdstaffel 1, and won a double victory on 27 September 1918, followed up by four more enemy aircraft destroyed in the first week of October, despite a slight wound on the 2nd.
[1][2] In 1924, Barnekow was one of the German pilots who evaded the Treaty of Versailles and secretively founded the Luftwaffe in Russia.
At one point, he initiated an unsuccessful slander suit in which he claimed Francis' hostess, Countess Dorothy di Frasso, had called him such.
To shield him from being interned as an enemy alien when war broke out, Francis proposed marriage and retirement to Hawaii.
Udet committed suicide on 17 November 1941; however, the Nazis lied and claimed he had died an accidental death.