Noor Inayat: The British spy who was shot in the head and then cremated
The intervening night of June 16 and 17, 1943 was a full moon night. Two small planes flew to France from Tangmere, UK.
These planes took off in pitch darkness and their pilots were in such a hurry that they didn't even use flashlights to look at the map on their knees.
These planes did not carry any bombs, nor did they go out to spy on enemy territory, but their job was to deliver wireless transmitters and spies to German-occupied areas. One of these spies was Noor Inayat Khan who was a girl of Indian origin born in Moscow.
The maximum speed of these planes was 212 mph. After taking off from their secret hideout (Tangmere) in Great Britain,
these planes travelled an hour and a half in the darkness of night and landed in the fields of France.
These planes also carried additional fuel tanks, allowing them to travel up to 1,150 miles.
Noor Inayat Khan used to attract everyone's attention
The top and wings of these planes were painted in such a way that it was very difficult to see these planes in the darkness of night. These planes were flown by the best pilots of England.
Arthur J. Magda, the author of Noor Inayat Khan's biography Code Name Madeleine: A Sufi Spy in Nazi-occupied Paris, writes that the pilot Frank Rummels, who flew the plane that night, saw the handsome, fair-skinned, and French-speaking woman. When it came to light, he thought why such a young woman is being sent to France who cannot live without being seen?'
He writes that 'the general idea about spies was that the plainer they were the easier they would blend in with people. The characteristic of the best detectives was that they did not draw attention to themselves, but Noor Inayat Khan was the complete opposite.
One could not ignore them as soon as they were seen. A spy who trained with him said that after seeing Noor, no one could forget him.
Noor Inayat's father was a Sufi preacher while her mother was an American woman.
Noor Inayat Khan was born on January 1, 1914 in Moscow, the capital of the Soviet Union. His father was an Indian named Hazrat Inayat Khan and he was a Sufi preacher. His mother was American-born Ora Ray Baker, who changed her name to Amina Sharda Begum.
Noor belonged to the descendants of King Tipu Sultan of Mysore. It was a time when women with short feet were considered beautiful. That is why Noor's mother used to bind his feet as a child so that he would always remain small.
Sharabani Basu, author of another biography of Noor Inayat, Spy Princess: The Life of Noor Inayat Khan, says that Noor was a slim and beautiful girl. His level was just 5 feet 3 inches. He was very fond of music. The name of one of her brothers was Wlayat Khan whom she used to call as 'Bhai Jan'. Although Noor's mother was American, Noor was brought up in an Indian environment.
Anayat Khan spoke to his brothers in Hindi, so both his children understood Hindi and Urdu. At the age of 12, Noor came to India with her parents and went to Banaras, Jaipur. She also went to Delhi where she visited the shrine of Sufi saint Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya. After the age of twenty, Noor started wearing European clothes.
Wireless operator training
Noor was drawn to the espionage profession by his brother Welayat Khan, who served in the Royal Air Force. In those days, the 'Women's Auxiliary Air Force' was established to provide jobs to women whose male family members went to the battlefield to perform their duties.
Thus, under this program, thousands of women were given jobs in the Air Force as telephone and teleprinter operators.
Noor got the job of 'Aircraft Woman, Second Class' on 19 November 1940. One of the main reasons she got the job was that she could speak French fluently.
On joining the job, she was sent to Harrogate with 40 other women to train as wireless operators. Later he also trained in wireless telegraphy in Edinburgh.
Support for India's freedom struggle
During this time, she was closely watching the ongoing freedom struggle in India.
She was greatly influenced by Jawaharlal Nehru. He also bought Nehru's biography which he gave to his brother Wilayat as a birthday present.
Sharabani Basu writes that Noor believed that India's political leaders should not insist on their independence at a time when Britain was focused on fighting.
Noor believed that if the people living in India supported the British and received medals for their bravery in the war, the British would gain more confidence in them. Her brother Inayat Khan firmly believed that if Noor had survived the ravages of the Second World War, she would have made India's freedom her main goal.
Before joining the espionage department, an officer asked her if she supported the Indian leaders in their freedom struggle against the British government.
In response to this question, Noor Inayat did not reject this possibility. Then he was asked whether this thought of his would not be against the oath of British rule.
In response, Noor told the Selection Board officer that she would maintain her loyalty to the British Government as long as the war with Germany continued, but after the war she would change her mind and support independence against Britain. can support their country in their struggle.'
When the officer gave his clip (brooch) to Noor
Before leaving for France, a senior officer, Vera Atkins, gave Nur a French identity card and a small pistol 'Webley M 1907'. This pistol was four inches long and looked like a water gun from the outside.
Arthur Magda writes that 'Atkins explored every pocket of light. She wanted to remove all labels, papers, cigarettes, cinema and train tickets that would indicate she came from London. His hair was cut in the French style and his French-style clothes were tailored by a tailor before he was sent on a spying mission.
When Noor bids Atkins farewell, he admires the silver bird brooch on her dress. Atkins immediately took off the brooch and handed it to Noor. Noor's height was so small that she could not even board the plane by herself and an airman had to lift her by the waist and make her sit in the plane.
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Noor started sending secret information to Britain
Noor was given a bicycle as soon as he got off the plane in France. He cycled seven miles to reach a village called 'Etish'. From there she boarded a train to Paris, 200 miles away.
Noor's new name in France was 'Jean-Marie Rania'. Before setting out on his expedition, Noor practiced writing the name countless times so that when needed, it would come naturally from his pen like his old name. She was also given the new name 'Madeleine' in British spy circles.
Within days of Noor's arrival in France, the Nazis had arrested almost all of the spy agents in Noor's network. During the next few months Noor remained the sole British agent in France.
He risked his life to send secret information about German soldiers to England. She also continued to provide Britain with full information on the activities of the French Resident Movement. He also worked as a messenger for British spies for them.
Noor's suitcase was dropped by parachute
Arthur Magda writes that 'While working for the secret cell Cinema, Noor would send messages to London at 9:05am every Sunday. The time for sending messages on Wednesday was 2:10 while messages from London were sent to him at 6 am and 1 pm every day.
She used to open the door of her flat only when the visitor would ask her in code word 'Can I meet Ora's daughter Jean-Marie?'
Noor could not take his transmitter with him when he arrived in France. On June 21, the BBC broadcast the message 'Commissioner Becomes Stockbroker' in code language.
This meant that two radio sets and Noor's suitcase would be parachuted into the fields that night. Noor reached the place where the objects were to be dropped by parachute.
The radio set landed safely but Noor's suitcase got stuck in a tree and his clothes fell out and caught in the tree branches. Noor and his two companions somehow climbed the tree and took the clothes back from the branches and kept them in the suitcase.
Noor was caught by the treachery of his partner
Due to the betrayal of one of his comrades, Noor is captured by German agents. The man who captured them was named Pierre Kertu . When they opened the door to their flat, Kertu was already there.
Sharabani Basu writes that 'as soon as Kertu grabbed Noor's wrist, he bit her so hard that she started bleeding. Kertu tried to handcuff him by pushing him on the couch but he could not control Noor.
At last he took out his pistol and threatened Noor that if he moved even a little from his position, he would shoot at him. Holding a pistol in one hand, he dialled a phone number with the other hand and asked that more people be sent for help.
Ernst Vogt later described the incident and wrote that 'When I got there, Pierre was standing in the farthest corner of the room covering Madeleine and Madeleine was sitting like a tigress on the couch.
Her eyes flashed with anger and she repeatedly addressed Pierre as 'Cellesbckh' (dirty German). Kertu's wrist was bleeding profusely.
Attempt to escape as soon as arrested
After being captured, Noor was taken to the Gestapo (German secret agency) office. She made it clear to the German intelligence officers from the start that no matter what happened, she would not say a word.
When she was sent to jail, she made a strange request that she wanted to take a bath. The Germans wanted to pry a lot of secrets from them, so they readily agreed, but the guards kept the bathroom door slightly ajar so they could keep an eye on them.
But Noor made a lot of noise there and said that she wanted to take a full bath and did not want the guard to see her naked, Sharabani Basu writes. The Germans agreed to close the door, but as soon as the door closed, Noor jumped from the bathroom window and landed under the balcony window next to it. She was walking like a cat.
They wasted no time trying to escape. It was just a coincidence that the German officer Vogt was in another lavatory nearby. There he looked out of the window and was stunned to see Noor standing outside by the gutter. She was moving towards the same window where they stood.
'They let Noor get there and then gently said to her, 'Don't be silly, Madeleine. You will kill yourself. Think about your mother. Stretch out your hand to me. Vogt grabbed his shoulder and dragged him down and then returned Noor to his cell.
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Second escape attempt due to air raid
Going to her room, Noor cried at being caught like this. He started cursing himself that he should have committed suicide instead of being caught. After some time, when a guard brought them food, they refused to eat it.
They didn't even have dinner. Vogt ordered them to come to his room. There he offered them English tea and cigarettes. He drank tea and smoked several cigarettes one after the other but did not touch the food. Noor was a difficult prisoner.
She often wore a light brown jumper in jail. He was arrested by Gestapo officers in these clothes. A few days later, he made another attempt to escape from the jail.
She had even reached the roof of the jail but it was her misfortune that at the same time the British planes launched an aerial attack on the area. Noor was not found there when the officials searched his room after the attack subsided.
After that, German soldiers surrounded the entire area. Noor was captured and beaten by German soldiers and brought back to Cell No. 84.
On November 26, 1943, Noor was deported from France to Germany. Following direct instructions from Berlin, Noor was included among the most dangerous prisoners.
Noor was handcuffed and shackled
Noor's hands and feet were shackled in Germany's Forzem prison. A third chain tied their hands and feet. She could neither stand straight nor sit.
They almost starved him. They were given only potato peels and cabbage soup to eat. The Gestapo did not let them rest even for a moment. They kept asking him question after question asking him to tell the names of his companions but Noor did not say a word.
He was kept in solitary confinement. She could neither eat nor keep herself clean. This work was done by another woman who was instructed not to speak a word to Noor.
Lying in the jail cell, Noor had no idea of the day and time. She used to judge the time by the breakfast served and the day and dinner.
The door of his cell was never opened. Despite being very weak from hunger, Noor's spirit was not broken. Despite being chained, she walked slowly in her cell to keep her mind active.
The place where Noor Inayat was cremated
Shot from point blank range
On September 12, Noor was taken to Dakao detention camp. On its main entrance was written 'Arbeit Macht Frey' meaning 'Work will set you free.'' This was ironic as very few people made it out of the camp alive.
30 thousand people were killed here from 1933 to 1945. Noor was subjected to a lot of torture that night.
"German fighters entered her cell and beat her," says Sharabani Basu. Then they took off all Noor's clothes. Throughout the night, he trampled on her sensitive body parts with his thick shoes. A soldier then asked him to kneel down and shot him in the back of the head with his pistol, point-blank range.
Noor Inayat Khan's last words before he died were 'liberty' which means 'freedom'. He was just 30 years of age around then.
After that, his body was dragged and thrown into the furnace. A few minutes later, eyewitnesses saw smoke rising from the chimneys of the crematorium. That night in England, his mother and brother had the same dream in which they saw Noor standing in uniform with a blue light around them, telling them that they were now free.
Definition of France and Great Britain
In 1949, Noor was awarded Britain's highest honour, the George Cross. France regarded him with its most noteworthy non military personnel honour.
The French government installed a plaque outside his house 'Fazal Manzil' in Paris. Every year on Bastille Day, a French military band plays a song in his honour.
In 2006, India's then Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee paid his respects to Noor at his home in Paris.
On 8 November 2012, Princess Anne of Great Britain unveiled a bronze statue of him in Garden Square Gardens, London.
In 2014, Royal Mail of Great Britain also issued a stamp in honour of Noor Inayat Khan.
