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Eric Ernest Williams

(1911-1983), Airman and writer

Sitter in 1 portrait
As an airman in World War II, Williams was shot down over Germany where he was captured and imprisoned at Stalag-Luft III. In 1943, he escaped through a tunnel using a vaulting-horse as a decoy, and returned to Britain disguised as a French workman. His account of his escape, The Wooden Horse (1949), had sold over four million copies and the film adaptation (1950) is a classic war film. He continued to write and spent the rest of his life travelling the world on his boat, Escaper.

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Eric Ernest Williams, by Sir Stanley Spencer - NPG 6469Eric Ernest Williams
by Sir Stanley Spencer
NPG 6469

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