The Tunnel

Eric Williams

19 • 255 pages

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Average rating3

This book is a prequel to Eric Williams' *The Wooden Horse*. It describes his last mission, his being shot down, his capture, and his experience at his first prison camp, Oflag XXIB. Yes, there is a tunnel involved. And yes, like *The Wooden Horse*, *The Tunnel* is written as a novel.

> This book traces Peter Howard, who was to become one of *The Wooden Horse* escapers, from his being shot down, through his capture, interrogation and first two POW camps. It gets into the mind of a man determined to escape his captors. It shows that for all the many schemes dreamed up, very few ever got started and of those, only a tiny handful ever came to fruition--and of those, a ‘home run’ was as rare as a lottery win.

> But none of this could suppress the determination, ingenuity and courage of those who were driven to try.

> This is a thrilling opportunity to read what is virtually ‘lost’ masterpiece of the Prisoner of War escaping genre.

Book description courtesy of Amazon.

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History

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citizen of now

A very interesting bit of background / scene-setting for The Wooden Horse, but it doesn't really come together as a story in its own right. For that reason it's not quite worthy of being called a prequel - more an extended introduction perhaps? Still, it does give valuable insight into the daily life of POWs and if you're a fan of The Wooden Horse then it's essential reading that will provide a deeper understanding of the context of that escape. One thing I found particularly good was the recognition that other prisoners (in this case the Russians) had a much tougher time than the British POWs. It gives the story a maturity that's welcome and sobering. Ditto the focus on the POW with mental health problems, again showing us that POW life that wasn't all boy-scoutish ingenuity in the face of the enemy. If Williams' goals were to provide context for the events at Stalag Luft III and to pitch the tone with a little more gravity, I think he achieved them admirably.

November 26, 2019