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was born of an Indian father (Inayat Khan) and an American mother (Ora Ray Baker, who was a relative of Mary Baker Eddy, founder of Christian Science).
Princess (she was a descendant of Tipu Sultan, the ruler of Mysore) Noor Inyat Khan was a wireless operator in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF). She was recruited by the War Office to join the Special Operations Executive and in early February 1943 she was sent to Wanborough Manor to begin training.
16 June 1943, the princess-spy was flown to Le Mans. She became the first female SOE agent to be parachuted into France. She traveled to Paris and together with two other women ( Diana Rowden, code named Paulette, and Cecily Lefort, code named Alice) joined the Prosper Network led by Francis Suttill . Shortly after they arrived in Paris, a number of Prosper Network's operators were arrested by the GestapoGestapo is a portmanteau contraction of the name of the official secret police force of Nazi Germany, Geheime Staatspolizei ( German for "secret state police"). History The Gestapo was established on April 26, 1933 in Prussia. With members recruited from. Although Khan was told to return to Britain she refused, choosing to remain at her station where she kept the SOE informed of the situations in France.
Soon, however, the Gestapo arrested Khan and interrogated her at the Gestapo Headquarters. She was not tortured but her interrogation lasted over a month. During that time, she attempted escape twice. Although Khan would not reveal any information about her activities during the interrogations, the Gestapo did find her notebooks which contained coded messages that she had sent and received as an SOE operative. They easily broke her code and were able to send messages to London that enabled them to catch three more agents in France.
The princess was taken to Germany and imprisoned at PforzheimPforzheim is a city of 115,000 inhabitants in the state of Baden-Wurttemberg, south-west Germany at the gate to the Black Forest. It has an area of 98 kmē and lies between the cities of Stuttgart and Karlsruhe at the confluence of three rivers (Enz, Nagol in solitary confinement (because she was considered dangerous and uncooperative). Khan continued to refuse to give any information on her work or her fellow operatives.
On September 11, 1944, Noor Inyat Khan, along with three other SOE agents, Yolande BeekmanYolande Beekman ( 1911 September 11, 1944) is a heroine of World War II. Born as Yolande Elsa Maria Unternahrer to an educated family in Paris, Beekman moved as a child to London, England and grew up fluent in the English, German, and French languages., Eliane Plewman and Madeleine DamermentMadeleine Zoe Damerment ( November 11, 1917 September 11, 1944) is a heroine of World War II. Madeleine Damerment was born in the city Lille in the Nord departement of France. Following the occupation of France by the Germans in World War II, her family b, were moved to DachauDachau is a city in Southern Germany, in the federal state of Bavaria. Just 20 km away from Munich, it has become a popular housing area for people working in Munich, and now has roughly 40,000 inhabitants. Dachau was founded in the 8th century, and was t Concentration Camp. The women were lined up and forced to kneel, after which they were all murdered by a single shot to the head.
Princess Noor Inyat Khan, published writer of children stories and SOE agent code-named "Madeleine", was posthumously awarded the George CrossThe George Cross (GC) is the highest Commonwealth decoration awarded for acts of conspicuous gallantry not in the face of the enemy and is second only to the Victoria Cross. It is the highest honour that can be awarded to a person not under military comma in 1949.