Noor Inayat Khan
Noor Inayat Khan | |
|---|---|
Noor-un-Nisa Inayat Khan, c. 1943 | |
| Other names | Nora Baker Madeleine (SOE codename) Nurse (SOE callsign) Jeanne-Marie Renier (SOE alias) |
| Born | 1 January 1914 |
| Died | 13 September 1944 (aged 30) |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Branch | Women's Auxiliary Air Force Special Operations Executive |
| Service years | 1940–1944 |
| Rank | Assistant section officer |
| Unit | Cinema (SOE) |
| Conflicts | Second World War |
| Awards | George Cross Mentioned in Despatches Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France) |
Noor-un-Nisa Inayat Khan, GC (1 January 1914 – 13 September 1944), also known as Nora Inayat-Khan and Nora Baker, was a British agent in France in the Second World War who served in the Special Operations Executive (SOE). The purpose of SOE was to conduct espionage, sabotage, and reconnaissance in countries occupied by the Axis powers, especially those occupied by Nazi Germany.
As an SOE agent under the codename Madeleine she became the first female wireless operator to be sent from the UK into occupied France to aid the French Resistance during the Second World War. Inayat Khan was betrayed, captured, and executed at Dachau concentration camp. She was posthumously awarded the George Cross for her service, the highest civilian decoration for gallantry in the United Kingdom.