It was a handwritten note scribbled on a file in the National Archives of Australia that would start an "obsession" and lead an author down a rabbit hole and across continents.

It is a story of deception, double agents, secret names and plans for a genocide, centring around a handful of Australian prisoners of war.

Canberran author Edmund Goldrick was researching another story for a book when he stumbled upon the note.

"Sergeant Ross Sayers spent three years at large in Yugoslavia," the note said.

Mr Goldrick said it was among papers about the mistreatment of Australian prisoners of war captured during the Greek campaign in WWII.

And it was an alluring first clue.

"From there it was a rabbit hole," Mr Goldrick said.

" I became obsessed. I had to know more. From there unravelled mor

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