Philip Rhayader lives alone in an abandoned lighthouse on the desolate Great Marsh of Essex. One afternoon a hauntingly beautiful child Fritha visits Rhayader bringing with her an injured snow goose. At first Fritha is scared of Rhayader with his sinister hump & crooked hand but he is gentle & kind & Fritha begins to visit regularly. When the snow goose departs for home Rhayader is left alone again. The following winter the snow goose & Fritha return to the lighthouse. Time passes & one year Fritha is frightened to discover her feelings for Rhayader. But this is 1940 & Rhayader is setting sail for Dunkirk to help the soldiers trapped on the beaches. Fritha never sees Rhayader again. But the story of the saviour with the snow goose passes from soldier to soldier & into legend...