The Secret of the 1940 Fire

The Lighthouse

This flow traces the wartime deaths at the lighthouse and shows how an old family silence distorts the present investigation.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

The Island Is Evacuated The Island Is Evacuated from "The Lighthouse". An Empty Island The Final Departure Emily Holcombe recalls that the family and most staff left Combe during the war.

The Island Is Evacuated from "The Lighthouse". An Empty Island The Final Departure Emily Holcombe recalls that the family and most staff left Combe during the war.

An Empty Island The Final Departure Emily Holcombe recalls that the family and most staff left Combe during the war. Saul Oliver remained for one extra night with his young son Nathan. An Unusual Return Saul’s decision to return to the island with the child creates the conditions for a secret that later generations will inherit without understanding.

Three Germans Land Three Germans Land from "The Lighthouse". A Dangerous Landing A Secret Expedition Three German officers arrive from the occupied Channel Islands in a small sailing boat.

Three Germans Land from "The Lighthouse". A Dangerous Landing A Secret Expedition Three German officers arrive from the occupied Channel Islands in a small sailing boat.

A Dangerous Landing A Secret Expedition Three German officers arrive from the occupied Channel Islands in a small sailing boat. They may intend to raise a German flag on the disused lighthouse. Witnesses and Risk Their presence puts the island’s remaining inhabitants in danger. Saul Oliver and Tom Tamlyn know that the men have landed and face an alarming choice.

The Lighthouse Burns The Lighthouse Burns from "The Lighthouse". Fire in the Tower A Fatal Blaze The lighthouse is packed with dry straw.

Fire in the Tower A Fatal Blaze The lighthouse is packed with dry straw. A fire begins below the trapped officers, and the flames cut off their escape through the tower. Competing Accounts Emily Holcombe later hears that young Nathan may have started the fire with matches. Saul’s account makes the boy’s role uncertain, a question no official investigation settles.

Bodies Taken to Sea Bodies Taken to Sea from "The Lighthouse". The Cover-Up Concealed Deaths Saul Oliver and Tom Tamlyn remove the three bodies and take them away by boat.

Bodies Taken to Sea from "The Lighthouse". The Cover-Up Concealed Deaths Saul Oliver and Tom Tamlyn remove the three bodies and take them away by boat.

The Cover-Up Concealed Deaths Saul Oliver and Tom Tamlyn remove the three bodies and take them away by boat. The German vessel is scuttled, erasing evidence of the landing. A Further Disappearance Tom Tamlyn does not return alive. His body later appears with a fractured skull, while Saul describes the death as an accident.

A Story Reopened A Story Reopened from "The Lighthouse". A Son Seeks the Past The Family Inquiry Raimund Speidel explains that his father disappeared on the wartime expedition.

A Story Reopened from "The Lighthouse". A Son Seeks the Past The Family Inquiry Raimund Speidel explains that his father disappeared on the wartime expedition.

A Son Seeks the Past The Family Inquiry Raimund Speidel explains that his father disappeared on the wartime expedition. He came to Combe to learn what happened, hoping Nathan Oliver might remember something. A Motive That Misleads The old story initially makes Speidel and Jago Tamlyn look dangerous. It enriches the island’s history but does not explain the contemporary murders.

October 1940, after the fall of France

Night of October 10, 1940

The morning after the officers land

After the 1940 lighthouse fire

Saturday afternoon, when Speidel explains his visit