Eric Williams, MC was a former Second World War RAF pilot and prisoner of war who wrote several books dealing with his escapes from prisoner-of-war camps. At the end of the war, on the long sea voyage home, Williams wrote Goon In The Block, a short book based on his experiences. Four years later, in 1949, he rewrote it as a much longer third-person narrative under the title The Wooden Horse. He included many details omitted in his previous book, but changed his name to 'Peter Howard'.