Tom Wilson and the "Horse" Violin

Seaman Tom Wilson was sent to Stalag Luft III after being captured on May 23, 1943. In the first week of arriving at the camp, the recreation officer welcomed him warmly and was even more delighted to learn that Wilson could play the violin, immediately arranging for him to obtain an old violin. The violin body already had cracks, and the strings were damaged. Wilson extracted oil from crushed almonds in a Red Cross relief package to clean the body. The violin was playable, but was a concert planned?

Not entirely.

The three-member team behind the "Trojan Horse" escape plan took advantage of Wilson's unique ability to mask construction noises with his violin playing. They stationed him daily in the camp's barber shop. When the Trojan Horse was wheeled back, the floor was opened, and the sandbags were dumped, Wilson would play the violin nearby. These sounds drowned out the noise of dumping sand. The guards, hearing music and singing, assumed it was just the British soldiers' usual recreational activity.

After the three-man team escaped, Wilson and most of the prisoners of war remained until the end. By January 1945, the Soviet Red Army launched a fierce counteroffensive from the eastern front, and T-34 tanks approached Poland. The German forces forced the prisoners to evacuate the camp. Tom Wilson carried the violin with him throughout the journey. He traveled by horse-drawn carts, walked through the snow, passed through Dresden, and continued marching. The violin accompanied him all the way until April, when Wilson and his comrades were finally liberated by the U.S. Army.

After the war, this violin remained with Tom Wilson. Occasionally, he would take it out for photos or bring it to reunions with fellow soldiers. Following his passing in 2018, the violin was kept by his family and was lent out for exhibitions on multiple occasions.

Tom Wilson: His Person and Story

Tom Wilson, whose full name is Thomas William Spencer Wilson, was born on December 12, 1920, in Birmingham, England. His father was a senior research engineer, and his mother was a homemaker. He was the third child in his family, with two older brothers. Wilson attended Bishop Vesey's Grammar School, where he excelled academically, particularly in mathematics and music. In 1941, he earned a first-class honors degree in electrical engineering from the University of Birmingham at the age of 20. His father wanted him to stay in the factory and produce war equipment, but after a close friend's brother went missing on the battlefield, Tom Wilson decided to join the Royal Air Force. Based on his electrical engineering background, he underwent navigator training and was later assigned to the 192 Squadron.