Tom Wilson's Wooden Horse Violin
My father, P/O Tom Wilson, was shot down in May 1943 and interned in the East Compound of Stalag Luft III, Sagan, in what is now Poland. It was from this compound that the Wooden Horse escape was made in October 1943. Tom Wilson was one of the vaulters supporting the escape and also served as a lookout, playing his violin while the sand from the tunnel was being disposed of in the camp barbershop.
When Stalag Luft III was forcibly evacuated in January 1945, Tom took his violin with him, first in cattle trucks, passing through Dresden the day before it was attacked, and then on foot in forced marches in southern Germany. When it became too difficult to carry on with the violin, Tom left it with a German family whom he trusted because of the Beethoven music open on their piano.
Three years later, having studied German and Russian at university, Tom took part in the first Anglo-German student exchange, finding time to recover his violin from the same family during his second visit to Germany. He also met my mother during this trip, so the violin has particular significance to our family, despite being pretty worthless from a playing point of view. My son, Tom's grandson, now has the violin displayed on the wall of his home.
In the 1950 British film, *The Wooden Horse*, an actor can be seen portraying my father playing the violin in the barbershop.
