Bram van der Stok
Encyclopedia
Bram van der Stok, MBE (30 October 1915 – 8 February 1993), also referred to as Bob van der Stok, was the most decorated aviator
in Dutch history, as well as one of the three men to escape to freedom in "the Great Escape" from German
POW camp Stalag Luft III
.
and the Dutch West Indies. After finishing his education at the Lyceum Alpinum in Switzerland he studied medicine at Leiden University
where he became enamoured with rowing
and ice hockey
, and in 1936 he joined the Royal Netherlands Air Force
where he flew a Fokker D.XXI
, and continued his medical training at Utrecht University
.
When the Netherlands were attacked by German forces in 1940, Bram scored the first victory when he shot down a Messerschmitt Bf 109
while on patrol over De Kooy
airfield. After the Netherlands' capitulation, he made three unsuccessful attempts to escape to England, before finally reaching Scotland
in June 1941, after escaping from Rotterdam as a stowaway
on board of the Swiss merchant ship Saint Cerque, together with Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema
and two others. He was awarded the Dutch Bronze Cross for his actions by Queen Wilhelmina
, and flew briefly in 91 Squadron
before being transferred to 41 Squadron
in February 1942 where he racked up another Bf 109 shot down and 3 'damaged' claims during March and April 1942.
On 12 April 1942, during 'Circus 122' Bram was shot down while flying Spitfire
Vb BL595 over France and parachuted into a waiting German patrol, who processed him. He was incarcerated in the newly-built Stalag Luft III, where he made a total of three escape attempts. The first was foiled inadvertently by another POW who drew attention to the escaping Bram while retrieving a stolen German cap from the roof of a hut, and the second was thwarted when German officials noticed that his forged
pass was out-of-date. In what later became known as the "Great Escape", he was the 18th of the total 76 prisoners that managed to escape from the camp. Out of these escapees, only three made it to neutral countries and freedom: Bram, who crossed much of the European countryside before arriving in the safety of Spain
, and two Norwegians
, Per Bergsland
and Jens Müller, who managed to escape to neutral Sweden
.
Bram traveled from the Breslau train station to Dresden
where he was stopped at several checkpoints, convincing the Germans that he was not one of the escapees. He finally reached Utrecht
through Oldenzaal, and met up with a member of the Underground
who prepared him for his bicycle trek to another safe house in Belgium
. There he adopted a new Belgian persona, and traveled by train through Brussels
and Paris
, before reaching Toulouse
where he was grouped with two American lieutenants, two RAF pilots, a French officer, and a Russian all being led by their French guide who led them across the Pyrenees
to Lleida
in Spain. The British consulate took possession of the Allied escapees, and over three months after his original escape, Bram finally arrived in Gibraltar
on 8 July, and was flown to Bristol
on 11 July.
After his escape, Bram rejoined the RAF Spitfire
91 Squadron
and took part in both Normandy
and anti-V-1
operations. The following year, he joined 74 Squadron
for a brief time before moving in March 1945 to command the Dutch-manned RAF 322 Squadron
based in the Netherlands
, where he learned that his two brothers had been killed in concentration camps, and his father had been blinded by the Gestapo
.
. He was offered the command of the new Dutch air force, but declined and instead finished his medicine studies.
He later moved to the U.S. with his wife Petie and their three children. There he worked as an OB-GYN
in Syracuse, New York
and as a GP
in Ruidoso, New Mexico
, though he later joined NASA
's space lab research team in Huntsville, Alabama
. In 1970 van der Stok moved to Honolulu, where he practised medicine, and in 1980 published Oorlogsvlieger van Oranje, later translated into English as War Pilot of Orange. He later joined the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary and took part in 162 rescues before his death in 1993.
In the 1963 film The Great Escape
, he was composited into the character of Sedgwick, played by James Coburn
.
Aviator
An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
in Dutch history, as well as one of the three men to escape to freedom in "the Great Escape" from German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
POW camp Stalag Luft III
Stalag Luft III
Stalag Luft III was a Luftwaffe-run prisoner-of-war camp during World War II that housed captured air force servicemen. It was in the German Province of Lower Silesia near the town of Sagan , southeast of Berlin...
.
Personal life
He spent his childhood between Sumatra, the NetherlandsNetherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
and the Dutch West Indies. After finishing his education at the Lyceum Alpinum in Switzerland he studied medicine at Leiden University
Leiden University
Leiden University , located in the city of Leiden, is the oldest university in the Netherlands. The university was founded in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, leader of the Dutch Revolt in the Eighty Years' War. The royal Dutch House of Orange-Nassau and Leiden University still have a close...
where he became enamoured with rowing
Sport rowing
Rowing is a sport in which athletes race against each other on rivers, on lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water...
and ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
, and in 1936 he joined the Royal Netherlands Air Force
Royal Netherlands Air Force
The Royal Netherlands Air Force , Dutch Koninklijke Luchtmacht , is the military aviation branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. Its ancestor, the Luchtvaartafdeling of the Dutch Army was founded on 1 July 1913, with four pilots...
where he flew a Fokker D.XXI
Fokker D.XXI
-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* De Jong, Peter. Le Fokker D.21 . Outreau, France: Éditions Lela Presse, 2005. ISBN 2-914017-26-X....
, and continued his medical training at Utrecht University
Utrecht University
Utrecht University is a university in Utrecht, Netherlands. It is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands and one of the largest in Europe. Established March 26, 1636, it had an enrollment of 29,082 students in 2008, and employed 8,614 faculty and staff, 570 of which are full professors....
.
When the Netherlands were attacked by German forces in 1940, Bram scored the first victory when he shot down a Messerschmitt Bf 109
Messerschmitt Bf 109
The Messerschmitt Bf 109, often called Me 109, was a German World War II fighter aircraft designed by Willy Messerschmitt and Robert Lusser during the early to mid 1930s...
while on patrol over De Kooy
De Kooy
De Kooy Airfield is an airfield south of Den Helder, the Netherlands, named after the nearby hamlet De Kooy. It serves as both a civilian airport under the name Den Helder Airport and a naval airport under the name Maritiem Vliegkamp De Kooy .Most movements on the De Kooy are made by...
airfield. After the Netherlands' capitulation, he made three unsuccessful attempts to escape to England, before finally reaching Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
in June 1941, after escaping from Rotterdam as a stowaway
Stowaway
A stowaway is a person who secretly boards a vehicle, such as an aircraft, bus, ship, cargo truck or train, to travel without paying and without being detected....
on board of the Swiss merchant ship Saint Cerque, together with Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema
Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema
Siebren Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema DFC RMWO , was a Dutch wartime RAF-pilot, Dutch spy and writer. He was a Knight 4th class of the Military William Order....
and two others. He was awarded the Dutch Bronze Cross for his actions by Queen Wilhelmina
Wilhelmina of the Netherlands
Wilhelmina was Queen regnant of the Kingdom of the Netherlands from 1890 to 1948. She ruled the Netherlands for fifty-eight years, longer than any other Dutch monarch. Her reign saw World War I and World War II, the economic crisis of 1933, and the decline of the Netherlands as a major colonial...
, and flew briefly in 91 Squadron
No. 91 Squadron RAF
No 91 Squadron was a squadron of the Royal Air Force but is no longer operational. The name acknowledges the contribution made by Nigeria to the cost of the squadron's aeroplanes.-World War I:...
before being transferred to 41 Squadron
No. 41 Squadron RAF
No. 41 Squadron of the Royal Air Force is currently the RAF's Test and Evaluation Squadron , based at RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire. Its official title is "41 TES". The Squadron celebrates its 95th anniversary in 2011, and is one of the oldest RAF squadrons in existence.-First World War, 1916–1919:No...
in February 1942 where he racked up another Bf 109 shot down and 3 'damaged' claims during March and April 1942.
Stalag Luft III
Supermarine Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries throughout the Second World War. The Spitfire continued to be used as a front line fighter and in secondary roles into the 1950s...
Vb BL595 over France and parachuted into a waiting German patrol, who processed him. He was incarcerated in the newly-built Stalag Luft III, where he made a total of three escape attempts. The first was foiled inadvertently by another POW who drew attention to the escaping Bram while retrieving a stolen German cap from the roof of a hut, and the second was thwarted when German officials noticed that his forged
Forgery
Forgery is the process of making, adapting, or imitating objects, statistics, or documents with the intent to deceive. Copies, studio replicas, and reproductions are not considered forgeries, though they may later become forgeries through knowing and willful misrepresentations. Forging money or...
pass was out-of-date. In what later became known as the "Great Escape", he was the 18th of the total 76 prisoners that managed to escape from the camp. Out of these escapees, only three made it to neutral countries and freedom: Bram, who crossed much of the European countryside before arriving in the safety of Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, and two Norwegians
Norwegians
Norwegians constitute both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway. They share a common culture and speak the Norwegian language. Norwegian people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in United States, Canada and Brazil.-History:Towards the end of the 3rd...
, Per Bergsland
Per Bergsland
Sgt Per Bergsland was a Norwegian POW in the German POW camp Stalag Luft III and one of only three men to escape to freedom in the "Great Escape".-Sports career:...
and Jens Müller, who managed to escape to neutral Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
.
Bram traveled from the Breslau train station to Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
where he was stopped at several checkpoints, convincing the Germans that he was not one of the escapees. He finally reached Utrecht
Utrecht (city)
Utrecht city and municipality is the capital and most populous city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, and is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands with a population of 312,634 on 1 Jan 2011.Utrecht's ancient city centre features...
through Oldenzaal, and met up with a member of the Underground
Resistance during World War II
Resistance movements during World War II occurred in every occupied country by a variety of means, ranging from non-cooperation, disinformation and propaganda to hiding crashed pilots and even to outright warfare and the recapturing of towns...
who prepared him for his bicycle trek to another safe house in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
. There he adopted a new Belgian persona, and traveled by train through Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
and Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, before reaching Toulouse
Toulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
where he was grouped with two American lieutenants, two RAF pilots, a French officer, and a Russian all being led by their French guide who led them across the Pyrenees
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees is a range of mountains in southwest Europe that forms a natural border between France and Spain...
to Lleida
Lleida
Lleida is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital city of the province of Lleida, as well as the largest city in the province and it had 137,387 inhabitants , including the contiguous municipalities of Raimat and Sucs. The metro area has about 250,000 inhabitants...
in Spain. The British consulate took possession of the Allied escapees, and over three months after his original escape, Bram finally arrived in Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
on 8 July, and was flown to Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
on 11 July.
After his escape, Bram rejoined the RAF Spitfire
Supermarine Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries throughout the Second World War. The Spitfire continued to be used as a front line fighter and in secondary roles into the 1950s...
91 Squadron
No. 91 Squadron RAF
No 91 Squadron was a squadron of the Royal Air Force but is no longer operational. The name acknowledges the contribution made by Nigeria to the cost of the squadron's aeroplanes.-World War I:...
and took part in both Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
and anti-V-1
V-1 flying bomb
The V-1 flying bomb, also known as the Buzz Bomb or Doodlebug, was an early pulse-jet-powered predecessor of the cruise missile....
operations. The following year, he joined 74 Squadron
No. 74 Squadron RAF
No. 74 Squadron RAF, also known as a "Tiger Squadron" from its tiger head motif, is a squadron of the Royal Air Force. It operated fighter aircraft from 1917 to the 1990s.-First World War:...
for a brief time before moving in March 1945 to command the Dutch-manned RAF 322 Squadron
No. 322 Squadron RAF
No. 322 Squadron of the Royal Air Force was a Fighter Squadron during the Second World War-History:No. 322 Squadron of the Royal Air Force was formed from the Dutch personnel of No. 167 Squadron RAF on 12 June 1943 at RAF Woodvale. The squadron retained the code-letter combination VL which had...
based in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, where he learned that his two brothers had been killed in concentration camps, and his father had been blinded by the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
.
Escape & Evasion Report F/Lt. Bram van der Stok, interview 10-11 July 1944
In this Report from The National (RAF) Archives, one can, without any doubt, read that Bram van der Stok was captured by the Germans near St. Omer (North of France) on 12 April 1942. At the end of his escape he left Gibraltar on 10 July 1944 and landed at Whitchurch Airport (Bristol) on 11 July 1944. However in his book "War Pilot of Orange" Bram wrote that he was captured 14 July 1942, and landed after his escape on English soil on 20 May 1944. These data are incorrect.After the war
He was awarded the Order of Orange Nassau from the Netherlands, and two years after the war he was inducted as a Member of the Order of the British EmpireOrder of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
. He was offered the command of the new Dutch air force, but declined and instead finished his medicine studies.
He later moved to the U.S. with his wife Petie and their three children. There he worked as an OB-GYN
Obstetrics and gynaecology
Obstetrics and gynaecology are the two surgical–medical specialties dealing with the female reproductive organs in their pregnant and non-pregnant state, respectively, and as such are often combined to form a single medical specialty and postgraduate training programme...
in Syracuse, New York
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...
and as a GP
General practitioner
A general practitioner is a medical practitioner who treats acute and chronic illnesses and provides preventive care and health education for all ages and both sexes. They have particular skills in treating people with multiple health issues and comorbidities...
in Ruidoso, New Mexico
Ruidoso, New Mexico
Ruidoso is a village in Lincoln County, New Mexico, United States, adjacent to the Lincoln National Forest. The population was 8,029 at the 2010 census...
, though he later joined NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
's space lab research team in Huntsville, Alabama
Huntsville, Alabama
Huntsville is a city located primarily in Madison County in the central part of the far northern region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Huntsville is the county seat of Madison County. The city extends west into neighboring Limestone County. Huntsville's population was 180,105 as of the 2010 Census....
. In 1970 van der Stok moved to Honolulu, where he practised medicine, and in 1980 published Oorlogsvlieger van Oranje, later translated into English as War Pilot of Orange. He later joined the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary and took part in 162 rescues before his death in 1993.
In the 1963 film The Great Escape
The Great Escape (film)
The Great Escape is a 1963 American film about an escape by Allied prisoners of war from a German POW camp during World War II, starring Steve McQueen, James Garner, and Richard Attenborough...
, he was composited into the character of Sedgwick, played by James Coburn
James Coburn
James Harrison Coburn III was an American film and television actor. Coburn appeared in nearly 70 films and made over 100 television appearances during his 45-year career, and played a wide range of roles and won an Academy Award for his supporting role as Glen Whitehouse in Affliction.A capable,...
.
External links
- De Nederlandse luchtmacht in mei 1940
- Daily Telegraph: Obituary - Bram van der Stok
- The Pilots of 41 Squadron RAF, 1939-1945
- The Great Escape - The Three That Got Away
- Bram van der Stok, Oorlogsheld van Oranje
- www.historyinfilm.com (en)
- Museum of Allied Prisoners of War Martyrdom
- Stalag Luft 3. The Great Escape