Noor Inayat Khan

Noor Inayat Khan (1914-1944) began writing poetry and stories for children and was looking forward to a promising future in the French literary world. Her book, Twenty Jataka Tales gave Noor the distinction of being a published author of children’s stories when the threat of World War II upended Noor’s future. Germany’s occupation of France forced the family to flee to England. In England Noor was recruited by the Special Operations Executive (SOE) to train as a secret agent. Even during training, she continued to write stories. In 1943 Noor was secretly flown to occupied France where she bravely carried out missions and relayed valuable information in preparation for D-Day landing operations. Betrayed and captured by the Gestapo, Noor was executed at Dachau concentration camp in 1944. Her lofty ideals led her to risk and ultimately sacrifice her young and promising life for the freedom of others.