Following twelve months of illness, depression and strain at the Luftwaffe's increasing losses on the Eastern Front, Generaloberst Ernst Udet, the German Director General of Air Armament, commited suicide by shooting himself. Udet, Germany's second highest fighter ace of the First World War (behind the Red Baron) with 62 kills, had already lost favour with Hitler after the air force's performance in the Battle of Britain. The official version was that he had died whilst testing a "new weapon" and Jagdgeschwader 3 was named in his honour. Udet was accorded a state funeral at which he was eulogised by Hermann Göring, who described him as his "best friend".
