NB: Originally Released in 1949, this is a copy of the 2005 reissue (republished in 2013) after it was firstly revised in 1979 and again in 2005. This revision involved the removal of some of the more obvious errors and outlandish fictionalised acts like killing German Guards in order to escape while in Denmark, which never took place. These and other additions were made by the publisher, against the Authors wishes. This revision was actually requested by the original Author just before he passed in 1983 and as such is now the only version available for sale. The original text was also expanded and added to. It included further updated information like details on who the real 'Peter Howard' was, and that this while undeniably based on a factual event, is still a fictionalised account of that escape. It explained the use of aliases for those involved and the reasoning behind it, and identified who was who in real life. Pen and Sword re-released it in 2013 as a Fiction Novel in Ebook Form only, and its still one of their most popular titles in print to this day.

It is over fifty years since the critics of the day acclaimed The Wooden Horse as a superbly told story of the most ingenious and daring escape of the Second World War. 

Millions of readers agreed, and the book became a modern classic and a memorable Film.

This is a fully revised and expanded edition which tells that timeless tale.

The escape itself was conceived along classical lines. 

The Greeks built a wooden horse and by means of it got into the city of Troy; in 1943 two British officers built a wooden horse and by means of it got out of a German prison camp. Together with a third companion, they were the only British prisoners ever to escape and reach England from this camp, though many more died trying. It was Stalag Luft III, designed especially to hold the Germans' most prized captives – Allied aircrew – and as such it was considered to be escape-proof.

The breakout from the camp itself is only part of the story. 

Once outside the wire the escapers were still faced with the problem of getting out of Germany, which is the point at which most escapees were themselves recaptured or killed. Fugitives in the midst of a watchful enemy population, they had both had many close shaves when disaster threatened to overwhelm them – adventures which the reader shares here to the full. 

The fantastic nature of this enterprise, the patience, determination and endurance, above all the steel nerve it demanded from an undernourished physique, are rendered all the more impressive by the manner of the telling. The characters are so vividly drawn that they could only be real people and not the more usual caricatures often used in these kinds of works. Throughout the book runs a vein of black humour most POWs recall helped them to survive, which alone made those long days of boredom and frustration bearable. The warmth of human companionship born of such deprivation, fear and a common purpose is all vividly portrayed and brought to life.

 Eric Williams MC RAF (13 July 1911 – 24 December 1983) was an English writer and former RAF Bomb Aimer who was shot down by the Luftwaffe while flying with his Aircrew in their Stirling Bomber. They were part of a force of five Aircrews sent out in December 1942 by 75 (New Zealand) Squadron to make a low level high precision night attack. The Operation was an utter disaster for the mostly Kiwi manned Squadron, with four of the five Aircrews failing to return from the operation (including the squadron commander). He and the rest of his Aircrew all survived the loss of their Aircraft 'A-Apple' over The Netherlands flying towards their target. 

All were Captured almost immediately after safely landing by Parachute and survived the war.

In 1943 Eric successfully escaped from a German Air Force POW Camp, after making several unsuccessful attempts to do so while being held in other locations. His companions in this successful endeavour were - British Army Officer, Second Lieutenant MCC Cordner of the Royal Artillery (1920-1952 - Killed In Action during the 'Malayan Emergency' by Communist Forces in Malaya) and Canadian Flight Lieutenant Oliver Philpot DFC RAF (1913-1993). After crossing Germany and managing to reach occupied Denmark they were able to make contact with the Danish Resistance, who then assisted all three in reaching neutral Sweden by sea. For their efforts all were later awarded the Military Cross. Eric, like the majority of successful escapers, never returned to an operational squadron and worked with MI-9 in Canada and Italy until VE-Day in 1945. After leaving MI-9 he was posted to the Pacific and worked in the Philippines with the medical teams caring for the emotional welfare of the former Allied POWs now being found in shocking health throughout those areas, as Japanese POW Camps were liberated. He worked in this role upto VJ-Day and beyond in places like Singapore and elsewhere until finally returning back to England whereupon he left the RAF.

After the war Eric wrote several best selling books beginning in 1949 with 'The Wooden Horse', and lived with his second wife Sybil Grain MBE in and around Greece and the Eastern Mediterranean on their boat for most of his life. It was public knowledge that he had a huge disliking of any kind of confined spaces, and he was in all likelihood suffering from some form of Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSS), as a direct result of his wartime experiences. If asked why a boat and not a house, Eric always responded with his stated preference for the open ocean's wide open spaces over being boxed in by buildings and walls. Eric Finally passed from natural causes still living on board his sailboat, the aptly named 'Escaper', which had been his and his wife's home ever since 1962.