7. Bram Van der Stok shot down German planes while serving in both the Royal Netherlands Air Force and the Royal Air Force
Bram Van der Stok’s war began when the Germans invaded the Netherlands in 1940. Flying a nearly obsolescent Fokker D-XXI, he scored his first victory when he shot down a bf 109 in May 1940. Following Germany’s conquest of the Netherlands, Van der Stok stowed away on a neutral freighter bound for Scotland, from whence he journeyed to England and service in the RAF. Flying the Supermarine Spitfire, Van der Stok, known as Bob to his British colleagues, became an ace by April, 1942. Five kills in the RAF added to his initial victory in the Netherlands for a total of six. On April 12, 1942, his aircraft was shot down, though he managed to bail out successfully, only to be captured by a German patrol. He was sent to a PoW camp in Silesia, though his war was not yet over.
In March, 1944, Van der Stok participated in the Great Escape, as it came to be called, from Stalag Luft III. Of the 76 prisoners who escaped that night, fifty were shot upon recapture by the Gestapo. Twenty-three were returned to German PoW camps. Three escaped to freedom, eventually returning to Britain. Van der Stok worked his way across Europe to Spain, then Gibraltar, and finally Britain, arriving there in July. He returned to active service with the RAF, and claimed to have destroyed seven V-1 buzz bombs during his return to combat, though no additional air-to-air victories. He is the most decorated aviator in the history of the Netherlands.