It was a sardine fisherman who found the body, dressed in a khaki trench coat and army boots and buoyed by a life jacket, floating face down off the coast of Sardinia.
As he dragged the rotting corpse out of the sea and on to the sand, it was clear this poor soul wasn’t just another victim of the Second World War.
A black attaché case was chained to his belt. A dog tag around his neck revealed he was a high-ranking Royal Marines officer, Major William Martin.
