Black Camp’s darkest secret: of Nazi’s death behind the wire

than 400,000 German prisoners lived in Britain for up to four years, and they will be amazed.

“Tell them there was probably a POW camp in their town and they probably won’t believe you.

“It felt like the book I had to write, something I was destined to do, the story I was meant to tell.”

Bill, from North Yorkshire, discovered lots about Rosterg – but struggled to understand why he had been killed.

“We know he was older than his fellow prisoners, was well travelled, spoke numerous languages, was a successful businessman, and his job – which links him to the manufacturers of Zyklon B, a chemical which was used in the gas chambers – marked him as an outsider.

“It’s easy to imagine him being dangerously vulnerable to the paranoia of his fellow prisoners.

“The fact that he wasn’t SS, took a doubtful view of Hitler’s war and an openly sceptical one which would certainly have contributed to his unpopularity and that his skill in languages granted him privileged access to senior German and British officers, could have raised suspicion that he was a mole.

“Whether he was or not will forever remain unknown.”

The mystery formed the basis of Black Camp 21, which tells the story of real people, alongside fictional protagonist Max Hartmann, who is categorised as a “black” prisoner and shipped off to a place where he can do no more damage.

Bill, who has already published two biographies, added: “Writing my first novel has been a challenge, and it’s a bit of a waiting game to see how it will be received.

“At least with a documentary, it goes out at 9pm, and by 10pm you know how many millions watched it.

“With books, it’s different. There’s not that same adrenaline rush – but I hope it’s one people want to read.”

Most of the POW camps in Britain were demolished – but Camp 21 still stands the same as it did in 1944.

“If you close your eyes, you can hear the German voices and the gunfire,” Bill said.

“It’s one of the most amazing relics I’ve ever come across and is now a listed building. With any luck, my book will inspire people to come and see it for themselves.

“There is a gripping tale behind it – but that’s what makes it such an amazing place.”

SS military recruitment poster, main; right, author Bill Jones back at the former prisoner of war camp in Comrie, above, where he spent time as a boy. His novel, Black Camp 21, tells the tale of a murder inside its fences

The prisoners were crammed into the huts at Cultybraggan, which remain eerie even today, more than 70 years later