Stalag Luft III it as a longer third-person narrative under the title "The Wooden Horse", which was filmed as "The Wooden Horse" in 1950. He included many details omitted in his first book, but changed his name to "Peter Howard", Michael Codner to "John Clinton" and Oliver Philpot to "Philip Rowe". Williams also wrote a prequel, "The Tunnel", an extended study of the mentalities of life as a prisoner of war. Although not an escape novel, it shows the profound urge to escape, and explores the ways that camp life affected men's emotions. Paul Brickhill was an Australian-born Spitfire pilot, shot down in
Dulag Luft Gestapo following The Great Escape from Stalag Luft III in March 1944. Several tunnels were started, but the first two ran into flooding problems. However, they were not discovered. The third tunnel ran west from the western barrack block under a sentry tower on the south-western corner of the camp. This was completed in the spring of 1941, and was used by 17 British officers (mainly RAF) in June 1941. The exact date of the escape is not known, but many sources quote it as occurring during the Whitsun weekend. The escapers, including Day, Buckley, Johnnie Dodge and future Carry