The Wooden Horse The Wooden Horse The Wooden Horse is a 1950 British Second World War war film starring Leo Genn, David Tomlinson and Anthony Steel. It was directed by Jack Lee. It is based on the book of the same name by Eric Williams, who also wrote the screenplay. The film depicts the true events of an escape attempt made by POWs in the German prison camp Stalag Luft III. The wooden horse in the title of the film is a piece of exercise equipment the prisoners use to conceal their escape attempt as well as a reference to the Trojan Horse
Gordon Brettell war. He was sent to Stalag Luft III in the province of Lower Silesia near the town of Sagan (now Żagań in Poland). Here he became an enthusiastic member of the escape committee specializing in forged documents and hand producing rubber stamps from linoleum and rubber boot heels to authenticate the documents and fashioning embossing tools from toothbrushes. He was promoted to flight lieutenant in captivity on 17 February 1943 and by 1943 had participated in at least one previous escape attempt. He spent time "outside the wire" after breaking out from Stalag Luft III with Kingsley Brown on 27