Help us Remember a Heroine of the Second World War

Noor Inayat Khan, GC, Croix de Guerre

1914-1944

Noor Inayat Khan, a descendant of the legendary Tipu Sultan, was a secret agent in the Second World War. She was infiltrated into France by the Special Operations Executive (SOE), Churchill’s secret organisation that sought to “set Europe ablaze”.   

Armed with only a false passport and a pistol, the beautiful and gentle Noor became the first woman radio operator to be sent to occupied Paris.

 

However, she was betrayed and captured by the Germans. Despite being repeatedly tortured and interrogated, she revealed nothing. She was executed by an SS officer on September 13, 1944, at Dachau Concentration Camp. She was only 30.

Britain posthumously awarded her the George Cross for her extraordinary bravery, and France honoured her with the Croix de Guerre.

Noor’s story cannot be allowed to fade away.

• She sacrificed her life for this country
• She is an icon of bravery for the young
• She crossed all narrow borders of religion or country. She was a Muslim who died for the Jews, she was an Indian who volunteered to fight for her adopted countries of England and France.

 

Following the campaign to install a permanent Memorial in her honour in London, an Early Day Motion was tabled in the House of Commons on 22 June 2010 by Valerie Vaz, M.P. It was signed by 34 M.Ps including Glenda Jackson, Dr Julian Lewis and Peter Bottomley and received cross-party support.

In September, the Vice Chancellor of the University of London gave permission for the bust to be installed in Gordon Square, near the house where Noor lived and from where she left on her fatal mission. It will be sculpted by well-known artist Karen Newman.

The memorial in Gordon Square will be the first for an Asian woman in this country. It will stand for peace and religious harmony, the principles Noor Inayat Khan believed in.

 

 

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