During the Second World War, there was a huge amount of espionage used by different countries
to try and get the upper hand on their enemies. Spies would reveal the secrets and planning
of military campaigns and of operations that would take place, and they had an incredibly
important part of the conflict. With spies, when they were captured they were usually
treated terribly and executed after they endured a rough ordeal of beatings and torture. Spies
were incredibly dangerous, and today we look at one of the most remarkable of the Second
World War. Noor Inayat Khan codenamed Madeleine was the first female wireless operator sent
behind enemy lines into Nazi occupied France to help the French Resistance. However she
was executed and tortured in horrific fashion. So join us today as we look at ‘The HORRIFIC
Execution Of Noor Inayat Khan, the British Spy of Dachau.’
Noor Inayat Khan was born in Moscow on the 1st January 1914. Her father was an Indian
Muslim and they were a rather noble family. Her father was a pioneer of Sufism in the
West, and expression of the Islamic faith. She had a rich family on her father’s side,
with there being Many skilled musicians in there. Her mother was American who met her
father whilst he was travelling. As the First World War broke out in 1914, the family left
Russia to head for London, and she went to nursery in an affluent part of London called
Bloomsbury before the family moved to France when she was 6. The family were involved in
the Sufi movement and the Sufi order, and they were given a house near to Paris through
this. Noor was a shy young girl, and after her father’s death she cared for her mother
and her siblings, despite being only just 13 at the time. She then studied child psychology
and music in Paris and also began to work as a writer working on poetry and children’s
studies in French and English.
As the Second World War broke out, it was likely that Hitler would turn his attention
to France as he sought to take the nation incredibly quickly. On the 3rd September 1939
France declared war on Germany after the Nazi invasion of Poland and there had been hostility
between the two countries for decades following the end of the First World War and the Treaty
of Versailles. The Invasion of France began on the 10th May 1940 and lasted 6 weeks which
resulted in France being placed under German occupation, and Hitler famously was pictured
strolling through Paris in front of the Eiffel Tower with his inner circle. Shortly before
the invasion, Noor and her family had returned to England fleeing to Bordeaux before entering
England from Cornwall on the 22nd June 1940.
Now Noor and her family were pacifists however she and her brother wished to take the fight
to the Nazis in some way. They wanted to make India proud and they hoped some Indians would
get a military award during the Conflict, and they wished to help the Allies against
the Germans and therefore bring together the English and the Indians. For this she joined
the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force and was trained as a wireless operator, however it
was clear that she was bound for a career in a slightly different field.
Noor was fluent in a number of languages, and because of this she seemed like the perfect
recruit for SOE, Special Operations Executive, a group of spies who would work for the British
behind enemy lines. They conducted sabotage operations, worked closely with resistance
all to bring about the downfall of the enemy. Khan found her work boring inside of the airforce,
and was recruited to join the France section of SOE and she began to undergo special training
as a wireless operator working in occupied lands.
She became the first woman to sent as women before were only sent into occupied lands
to work as couriers. She began to build upon her training and received the best training
in how to operate in a city transmitting messages back without being detected. She received
a training mission which aimed to replicate a Gestapo interrogation which aimed to show
what they might face if they were captured. Agents were put through there paces, and it
was noted that Khan seemed terrified that she nearly lost her voice.
Her final report stated that she was ‘not overburdened with brains but worked hard,
and that she has an unstable and temperamental personality, and she was doubted whether she
was really suited.’ However the head of her section said it was nonsense, and he backed
her. She was questioned about her ability in secret operations, and her quiet and gentle
personality worried SOE trainers. She also was given reports of her athleticism which
were poor and she was noted for being also scared of weapons. However she was an adept
and skilled wireless operator and a signaller, and she eventually was selected to go on mission.
Her mission was very dangerous. She became the first female wireless operator to go behind
enemy lines and her job was to link the field and London receiving and sending messages
about sabotage jobs and conveying messages as to weapons needed for the resistance. She
was taken under her wing by Vera Atkins, the intelligence officer of F Section who backed
her and believed she could succeed. Noor during a meeting was upset that her suitability was
questioned and she had no doubts, and she wanted to enter the field. Vera Atkins took
a personal approach with her officers, and she personally saw all of them off.
After gaining assurances about Khan’s suitability she accompanied her to see her off. Khan was
taken by Westland Lysander into France and she landed in a field near to Angers, and
was met with a reception committee of other SOE agents. She then after landing made her
way to Paris and to link up with members of the French Resistance and other SOE agents.
She became known as her codename as Madeleine, and inside of France she worked well as her
fluency in the language made her a good candidate to work inside of Nazi occupied France. Her
official SOE identity was Jeanne-Marier Renier, and she was given false papers for this. She
had been flown over on the 16th June 1943, and at this time in the Second World War,
the Germans still had the upper hand.
She belonged to the Prosper network that had been established, however within 10 days of
her landing in France the network of spies began to be arrested and rounded up. Something
had gone wrong, but she remained in contact with Britain and she was told she would be
flown home. Noor said that she was the only radio operator in Paris, and believed she
could continue in the shadows, however it wouldn’t be long before things went wrong.
She had only been in France a short period of time, but things went downhill. Noor Inayat
Khan was eventually turned over to the Germans. It’s believed this was by either Henri Dericourt,
a prominent French SOE agent or another.
It’s been suspected that Dericourt was in fact a double agent working for the Nazi Intelligence
Service the SD. Its also been rumoured that Renee Garry another agent was paid 100,000
francs for information that led to the capture of SOE agents. Khan managed to last in France
for a few months before on the 13th October 1943 she was arrested and taken to the SD
HQ in Pairs for interrogation. Whilst imprisoned she tried twice to escape, and never gave
up any information allegedly but continued to create lies to try to fool her interrogators.
However her notebook was found, and she had copied all of the messages she had sent as
an SOE operative out in there, and despite refusing to reveal secret codes, the Germans
knew she was sending information and they began to pretend she was sending messages
using the information she received.
More agents of F Section were captured and arrested, and many had learned about Noor’s
capture. They managed to warn Britain of any transmissions coming from codename Madeleine
and to ignore these, and these did get back. On the 25th November 1943, Noor managed along
with fellow SOE agents and a local resistance leader to escape the SD headquarters during
an air raid. However after being caught, she was then taken to Germany as she was considered
a flight risk, and was imprisoned in complete solitary confidement. She was shackled at
her hands and feet for 10 months straight, as she was considered to have been very dangerous.
Throughout her imprisonment she continued to give up no information at all, and she
found it very tough. Other prisoners noted how each evening she would be crying in her
cell loudly.
Because of her escape attempt, and as the Second World War was turning against the Germans
she was kept inside of Germany for months. By September 1944 she had been taken to Dachau
Concentration Camp along with other SOE female SOE agents. Dachau was a camp where 188,000
people passed through the gates of the concentration camp, and over 40,000 prisoners were executed.
When the camp was liberated by the allies, dozens of thousands were very sick at the
time. At Dachau, prisoners lived in fear constantly as there was a sadistic culture of torture
used at the camp. At times many feared the standing cells and flogging, but also hangings
in which prisoners were suspended for hours at time. It was also a site of medical experimentation,
but it was here where Noor Inayat Khan was executed.
The clearest account of what happened at her execution comes from Gestapo accounts that
were told by members of the Secret police to the US after the war. Christian Ott told
investigators what was told to him by another Gestapo agent about the execution of Noor
Inayat Khan and 3 other fellow SOE Agents. He said,
The four prisoners had come from the barrack in the camp, where they had spent the night,
into the yard where the shooting was to take place. Here he [Wassmer] announced the death
sentence to them. Only the Lagerkommandant and the two SS men were present. The German-speaking
Englishwoman (the major) notified her companion about the death sentence. All four of the
prisoners had grown very pale and wept; the major asked if they could protest against
the sentence. The Kommandant declared that nobody could protest against the sentence.
The major then requested to see a priest. The camp Kommandant denied the major's request
on the ground that there was no priest in the camp.
Now the four prisoners were ordered to kneel with their heads facing a small mound of earth
before they were killed by the two SS men, one after another by a shot through the back
of the neck. During the shooting, the two Englishwomen held hands and the two Frenchwomen
did the same. For three of the prisoners, the first shot caused their deaths, but for
the German-speaking Englishwoman, a second shot needed to be fired because she still
showed signs of life after the first shot was fired. After the shooting of these prisoners
the Lagerkommandant said to the two SS men that he took a personal interest in the jewellery
of the women and that this should be taken into his office.
Further accounts from other prisoners state how Noor was beaten brutally by an SS officer
before she was taken out and shot from behind. Her last words allegedly were ‘Liberty,’
and in some payback the man who beat her was executed after the war for his involvement
in executions.
The story of Noor Inayat Khan is one of a brave lady who wished to fight for the allies
against the Germans. She was a pioneer being the first female radio operator to work for
SOE behind enemy lines. Her capture was one which is still wrapped in mystery and debate
as to who turned her over and who betrayed her. However what cannot be disputed is what
occured inside of Dachau, with Khan being shot dead. She was awarded the George Cross
in 1949, and she has been commemorated in many different ways over the past decades.
Once again thanks for watching.
To support our channel, please make sure to subscribe.
Remember to support our channel, please make sure to subscribe.