Noor un-Nisa Inayat “Nora” Khan was born on January 1, 1914, in Moscow, Moscow Federal City, Russia. She was the daughter of an Indian father Pir Inayat Kahn and an American mother Begum Sharada Ameena (formerly Ora Ray Baker). She was a direct descendant of Tipu Sultan, the 18th-century Muslim ruler of Mysore.

He moved his family first to London and then to Paris, where Khan was educated and later worked writing children's stories. Khan escaped to England after the fall of France and in November 1940 she joined the WAAF (Women's Auxiliary Air Force). In late 1942, she was recruited to join SOE as a radio operator. Although some of those who trained her was unsure about her suitability, in June 1943 she was flown to France to become the radio operator for the 'Prosper' resistance network in Paris, with the codename 'Madeleine'. Many members of the network were arrested shortly afterwards but she chose to remain in France and spent the summer moving from place to place, trying to send messages back to London while avoiding capture.

In October, Khan was betrayed by a Frenchwoman and arrested by the Gestapo. She had unwisely kept copies of all her secret signals and the Germans were able to use her radio to trick London into sending new agents - straight into the hands of the waiting Gestapo. Khan escaped from prison but was recaptured a few hours later. In November 1943, she was sent to Pforzheim prison in Germany where she was kept in chains and solitary confinement. Despite repeated torture, she refused to reveal any information. In September 1944, Khan and three other female SOE agents were transferred to the Dachau concentration camp where on 13 September they were shot. For her courage, Noor Khan was posthumously awarded the George Cross in 1949.

Source of information: www.bbc.co.uk