History's HEROES? 1914 - 1944

Noor Inayat Khan

Noor Inayat Khan - Key facts

• 1914	January 1st - Noor-un-nisa Inayat Khan is born in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia. Her parents are visiting the Tsar (King).
• 1914-1920	Noor's family leave Russia and go to London in England. Her brothers and sisters are born.
• 1920	Noor's family move to France, near Paris. They are brought up to love peace and kindness.
• 1927	Noor's father has gone to India, where he dies. Noor's mother is heart broken and becomes ill. Noor has to help bring up her brothers and sisters.
• 1931-39	Noor becomes a musician and successful writer of children's stories.
• 1939	Nazi Germany invades Poland. Britain and her allies declare war on Germany. Noor decides to train as a nurse.
	May 23rd - Germany invades France. Noor and her family quickly pack up and escape to England.
	Noor decides she has to help fight the evil Nazis, and joins the WAAF (Women's Air Force). She is trained as a wireless operator.
• 1943	Noor is asked to join SOE (Special Operations Executive) because she is such a good wireless operator and speaks fluent French. They want her to go to France and secretly send and receive messages from England. This is very dangerous work.
	June 16th - Noor flies into France, makes her way to Paris and joins a spy network.
	July - The network is betrayed and all the other wireless operators are arrested by the German Gestapo. Noor is the only one left.
	August to October. Noor refuses offer to go home and stays, moving from place to place to escape the Nazi Gestapo.
	October - Noor is arrested and fights hard trying to escape. Twice more she tries to escape. When the Gestapo question her, she refuses again and again to give names of others.
	November - She is sent to a prison, in solitary confinement, in chains, so it is hard for her to eat and keep clean. She is kept there for many months.
• 1944	September 11th - She is taken to Dachau concentration camp with other women agents.
	September 12th - Early in the morning, she is taken outside and shot. As she dies, her last word is 'Liberte' (Freedom).
• 1949	Noor is awarded the George Cross for her bravery.

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