Eric Williams (writer)
Encyclopedia
Eric Williams was an English
writer and former Second World War RAF pilot and POW who wrote several books dealing with his escapes from prisoner-of-war camp
s, most famously in his 1949 novel The Wooden Horse, made into a 1950 movie of the same name
.
Eric Williams was the navigator of a Vickers Wellington
bomber shot down on a bombing raid over Germany in December 1942. He evaded capture for three days, but was eventually caught and sent to Oflag XXI-B
Schubin in Poland
. There he quickly formed a friendship with Lieutenant Richard Michael Codner, who spoke French, and together they planned and executed an escape through a tunnel. However, they were quickly recaptured and, as punishment, sent to Stalag Luft III
in Sagan (now Żagań
in Poland).
Williams and Codner came up with the idea of constructing a vaulting horse and using it to mask the opening of a tunnel entrance closer to the perimeter fence, while the other camp inmates vaulted continuously over the horse to mask the vibration of the tunnelling work. Sand was carried back inside the horse and dried in the attic of the camp canteen before being distributed in the compound.
With the assistance of a third POW, Oliver Philpot
, the tunnel was completed by 29 October 1943 - an important factor, as the Escape Committee only had local railway timetables valid until the end of October. Williams, Codner and Philpot planned to use the local railway to quickly put distance between themselves and the camp, rather than the usual escape strategy at the time of travelling on foot at night and hiding in barns or haystacks during the day.
Posing as French labourers, the trio made their way by train to the Baltic
; Philpot headed to Danzig, while Williams and Codner made their way to Stettin, where they eventually managed to make contact with the Danish Resistance and gain passage on a ship to Copenhagen
and thence to Gothenburg
in neutral Sweden
. There they met Philpot, who had been able to travel more quickly to Sweden via Danzig. From Sweden, all three officers were returned to Britain
.
After his return to active duty, the RAF immediately posted Williams to the Philippines
, where he worked with American forces for the remainder of the war.
. He included many details omitted in his previous book, but changed his name to 'Peter Howard', Michael Codner to 'John Clinton' and Oliver Philpot to 'Philip Rowe'.
Two years later, he wrote The Tunnel, a prequel to The Wooden Horse that described his and Codner's escape from Oflag XXIB.
Williams also amassed a substantial collection of escape literature and published several anthologies of excerpts from this collection.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
writer and former Second World War RAF pilot and POW who wrote several books dealing with his escapes from prisoner-of-war camp
Prisoner-of-war camp
A prisoner-of-war camp is a site for the containment of combatants captured by their enemy in time of war, and is similar to an internment camp which is used for civilian populations. A prisoner of war is generally a soldier, sailor, or airman who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or...
s, most famously in his 1949 novel The Wooden Horse, made into a 1950 movie of the same name
The Wooden Horse
The Wooden Horse is a 1950 British Second World War war film starring Leo Genn, Anthony Steel and David Tomlinson and directed by Jack Lee. It is based on the book of the same name by Eric Williams, who also wrote the screenplay....
.
Capture
RAF Flight LieutenantFlight Lieutenant
Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many Commonwealth countries. It ranks above flying officer and immediately below squadron leader. The name of the rank is the complete phrase; it is never shortened to "lieutenant"...
Eric Williams was the navigator of a Vickers Wellington
Vickers Wellington
The Vickers Wellington was a British twin-engine, long range medium bomber designed in the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey, by Vickers-Armstrongs' Chief Designer, R. K. Pierson. It was widely used as a night bomber in the early years of the Second World War, before being displaced as a...
bomber shot down on a bombing raid over Germany in December 1942. He evaded capture for three days, but was eventually caught and sent to Oflag XXI-B
Oflag XXI-B
Oflag XXI-B and Stalag XXI-B were World War II German prisoner-of-war camps for officers and enlisted men, located at Szubin a few miles south of Bydgoszcz, in Pomorze, Poland, which at that time was occupied by Nazi Germany.-Timeline:...
Schubin in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
. There he quickly formed a friendship with Lieutenant Richard Michael Codner, who spoke French, and together they planned and executed an escape through a tunnel. However, they were quickly recaptured and, as punishment, sent to 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...
in Sagan (now Żagań
Zagan
Zagan may refer to:*Zagan - a demon in the Ars Goetia*Żagań - a town in west Poland...
in Poland).
The "Wooden Horse" and Escape
As described in his novel The Wooden Horse, Stalag Luft III was designed to be a highly escape-resistant camp. Tunnelling in particular was made harder by the use of numerous environmental and technological solutions: the perimeter fence was placed some distance from the huts, necessitating longer tunnels; the soil in the chosen location changed colour markedly when dry, making disposal of freshly dug tunnel soil difficult; and the Germans employed seismographs to measure vibration caused by digging.Williams and Codner came up with the idea of constructing a vaulting horse and using it to mask the opening of a tunnel entrance closer to the perimeter fence, while the other camp inmates vaulted continuously over the horse to mask the vibration of the tunnelling work. Sand was carried back inside the horse and dried in the attic of the camp canteen before being distributed in the compound.
With the assistance of a third POW, Oliver Philpot
Oliver Philpot
Oliver Lawrence Spurling Philpot, MC, DFC was a Canadian born World War II RAF pilot and subsequently a businessman, best known for being one of the three men to successfully escape from Stalag Luft III in the escape known as The Wooden Horse.After escaping Philpot wrote a book Stolen Journey in...
, the tunnel was completed by 29 October 1943 - an important factor, as the Escape Committee only had local railway timetables valid until the end of October. Williams, Codner and Philpot planned to use the local railway to quickly put distance between themselves and the camp, rather than the usual escape strategy at the time of travelling on foot at night and hiding in barns or haystacks during the day.
Posing as French labourers, the trio made their way by train to the Baltic
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
; Philpot headed to Danzig, while Williams and Codner made their way to Stettin, where they eventually managed to make contact with the Danish Resistance and gain passage on a ship to Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
and thence to Gothenburg
Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
in 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....
. There they met Philpot, who had been able to travel more quickly to Sweden via Danzig. From Sweden, all three officers were returned to Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
After his return to active duty, the RAF immediately posted Williams to the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, where he worked with American forces for the remainder of the war.
Writing career
At the end of the war, on the long sea voyage home, Williams wrote Goon In The Block, a short book based on his experiences. Four years later, in 1949, he rewrote it as a much longer third-person narrative under the title The Wooden HorseThe Wooden Horse
The Wooden Horse is a 1950 British Second World War war film starring Leo Genn, Anthony Steel and David Tomlinson and directed by Jack Lee. It is based on the book of the same name by Eric Williams, who also wrote the screenplay....
. He included many details omitted in his previous book, but changed his name to 'Peter Howard', Michael Codner to 'John Clinton' and Oliver Philpot to 'Philip Rowe'.
Two years later, he wrote The Tunnel, a prequel to The Wooden Horse that described his and Codner's escape from Oflag XXIB.
Williams also amassed a substantial collection of escape literature and published several anthologies of excerpts from this collection.