Bill Robertson

Bill Robertson is a Historian and Teacher based in Aberdeenshire where he lives with his very patient wife and two daughters.

His interest in the Second World War was nurtured by a youthful exposure to war films, Commando comics and Airfix models which eventually led to him studying for a degree in History. An interest in Genealogy led him to discover his own family links to the greatest conflict in human history. The realisation that his own great grandfather had spent part of the war in the famous Stalag Luft III, made famous by The Great Escape led to him becoming immersed in the experiences of Allied prisoners of war.

His research has led to contributions to the We Have Ways of Making You Talk podcast and a guest appearance on the For You the War is Over podcast. He has written and published two short story collections – “Through The Darkest Door” and “When The Revolution Comes” and was an active member of Aberdeen’s Lemon Tree Writer’s group for many years. The Undefeated is his first full length book.

Bill says:

“My interest in this subject is a personal one. My great grandfather was captured in 1940 and remained a prisoner for the remainder of the war. He worked down salt mines and coal mines and spent a spell working as an orderly for officers. Uncovering his story led me to the realisation that the stories I had grown up with gave a very distorted perspective on what happened. Now, when I went back and watched Colditz or The Great Escape, I noticed a glaring absence. It felt like the other ranks had been quietly erased from the scene. The more I dug into what had happened in the camps over those five terrible years of war, the more I realised was missing from the story. My research brought me into contact with many other relatives of former POWs who all had their own stories to tell. What was surprising was how many of them knew little about the experiences their fathers and grandfathers had endured.

The desire to set the record straight and tell the unvarnished truth about the lives of the men in the Stalags festered in my heart and grew with each new discovery and became the genesis for a book.

The story of Prisoners of War during the Second World War is one that everyone thinks they know. Hollywood movies and countless memoirs written since the end of the war have carved themselves into our consciousness with tales of plucky officers battling to escape from the dastardly Germans.

THE UNDEFEATED is not that story.

THE UNDEFEATED uncovers the remarkable resilience and ingenuity of soldiers who, despite enduring harsh conditions and constant threats, refused to let captivity break their spirits. Drawing from archival sources, personal memoirs, and first-hand accounts, THE UNDEFEATED reveals how these men fought a different kind of war—one of survival, defiance, and camaraderie in the face of overwhelming adversity.

While many books have focused on the battlefield heroics of the Second World War, The Undefeated brings to light the experiences of those who were captured and taken to German and Italian POW camps. Their stories include daring escapes, covert resistance networks, and quiet acts of defiance. This book honours their bravery, revealing the mental and emotional fortitude required to endure imprisonment while still fighting for their dignity and their countries. They faced starvation, brutality, and the constant danger of death from air raids. As Hitler’s Reich began to collapse, they were forced to march in the depths of winter, trudging through the wreckage of occupied Europe as temperatures plummeted. Many would freeze to death or suffer horrendous injuries from frostbite as they marched day after day. After the joy of liberation faded, they faced a struggle to readjust to a civilian life that was now alien to them and often found their peacetime years marred by the physical and mental scars caused by their experiences.

I’m very much looking forward to working with Ashley and Neil in telling this story.”