Willem Jacob van Stockum

Born:  30 November 1910, Hattem, Netherlands.
Died: 10 June 1944, nr. Entrammes, France.
Father:  Abraham van Stockum
Mother: Olga Emily Boissevain

Education:

Studied at Trinity College, Dublin. Won a gold medal.

Career:

Was a mathematician. Solved Einstein's field equations for a cylindrically symmetric system. See Proc. R. Soc. Edinburgh, 57, p. 135 (1937).

Joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in June 1941. Taught mathematics to pilots. Then became a bomber pilot himself. Moved to Britain in the spring of 1943 and joined no. 10 squadron at RAF Melbourne in Yorkshire. Flew a Halifax Mk-III, MZ684, ZA-'B' bomber. Completed 6 missions before being shot down by German A.A. fire near Entrammes in France on the night of 9/10 June 1944.  All seven crew were killed and are buried at the Cimetière de Vaufleury at Laval, Dept. Mayenne, France.

Other information:

Wrote this article on his reasons for becoming a bomber pilot.