The Wooden Horse

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The Wooden Horse is a 1950 2nd World War film starring Leo Genn, Anthony Steel and David Tomlinson. It is based on the book of the same name by Eric Williams, who also wrote the screenplay.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

This true story, which few writers of fiction would have dared to try and get away with, is set in Stalag Luft III, the same POW camp where the 'real' Great Escape took place, and involved Williams himself, Michael Codner and Oliver Philpot, all three being inmates of the camp.

The prisoners were faced with the problem of digging an escape tunnel despite the accommodation huts, within-which the tunnel entrance could be concealed, being a considerable distance from the perimeter fence. They came up with an ingenious way of digging the tunnel with its entrance located in the middle of an open area relatively near the perimeter fence and using a Vaulting Horse (constructed largely from plywood from Canadian Red Cross parcels) to cover the entrance.

Each day they carried the horse out to the same spot, with a man hidden inside. The prisoners would then begin a gymnastic exercise using the vaulting horse, while the concealed man dug down below the horse. At the finish of the 'exercises' the digger would place a wooden board, cut to fit the aperture, in the hole and fill in the top with dry dirt kept for the purpose - dirt taken from anywhere else in the tunnel might be wetter and hence give away the activities.

Eventually, as the tunnel lengthened, two men were hidden inside the horse while a larger group of men exercised, the two men continuing the tunnel digging. At the end of the day they would again conceal the tunnel entrance and hide inside the horse while it was carried back to their hut. They also had to devise a method of disposing of the earth coming out of the tunnel. For the final breakout, three men were carried in the horse: the last to replace the tunnel trap for the three in the tunnel.

Three men who did manage to escape made it to neutral Sweden. Williams and Codner travelled together, whilst the third (Philpot) travelled alone. Philpot, posing as a Norwegian margarine manufacturer and travelling by train via Danzig (now Gdansk), was the first to make it to neutral territory, and also wrote a book about his experiences.

The film was shot in a low-key style, fairly soon after the war, with a limited budget and a cast including many amateur actors. It tended to establish the important genre of British prisoner of war escape films. Some details were cut from Eric Williams' book, e.g. where the escaped POWs discussed the possibility of visiting potentially neutral "whorehouses" in Germany. (The idea was abandoned because of a fear that it might be a trap, not out of prudishness.)

[edit] Trivia

The actor Peter Butterworth, who appeared in many of the Carry On films, was one of the vaulters in the real-life 'Wooden Horse' escape. He applied for a role in the subsequent movie but didn't get a part as he 'didn't look convincingly heroic and athletic enough'.

The 'Wooden Horse' plan itself was actually conceived and mostly thought through by Williams and Codner in equal measures - but Philpot's later book downplayed their role in the escape, making the plan seem more his own genius than that of his comrades.