Robert Ditterich was a teacher for over twenty years, as well as an exhibiting artist. Since retraining in the early 1990s he has run a small business as a violin maker. His love of history was rekindled while working on his own family history, which ultimately led him to complete his first book on Japan and the Pacific War, Two Lives, No Known Grave. Mr. Ditterich is married and lives with his wife of over thirty-five years in Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The Ditterichs have four adult children.