Personal Life
He spent his childhood between Sumatra, the Netherlands 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, Van der Stok 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.
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