June 16, 1943. The Second World War was still going on. Indian-origin Noor Inayet Khan (also known as Nora Inayat-Khan, Nora Baker and Noor-un-Nisa Inayat Khan; January 1, 1914 – September 13, 1944) took a dangerous flight from an airport in England to Angers in France in the dark of night. Noor was a British resistance agent in France in the Second World War who served in the Special Operations Executive (SOE). She was air-dropped to a field in Nazi-occupied France in order to carry out covert intelligence. It was her final journey, as the British espionage agent, popularly known as the Enemy of the Reich, never returned to England. After serving the Allied Forces for three months, she was captured and executed by the Nazis.

In 1949, Britain honoured Noor with the George Cross Award posthumously for her bravery. The George Cross is Britain’s highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy. She was also awarded a French Croix de Guerre with a silver star (avec étoile de vermeil). It may be noted that Croix de Guerre, a version of the French military decoration, was created on September 26, 1939 to honour people who fought with the Allies against the Axis Forces at any time during Second World War. After Germany invaded and overran mainland France in the Battle of France in May-June 1940, the Croix de Guerre was replaced by the pro-Axis Vichy French Government with another Croix with a black-and-green ribbon, while the original was upheld by Free France. Since the triumph of the Free French side in the Second World War, this version is the only one officially recognised military decoration by the French Government.

Eight decades later, UK female pilot Fiona Smith recreated the deadly mission behind enemy lines undertaken by Noor Inayat Khan during the Second World War. Smith, who won the British Women Pilots’ Association (BWPA) scholarship in 2021, recently carried out a special mission, as she flew from the south of England to Angers, laid a wreath for Noor and flew back. As it happened, her flight coincided with the 80th year of Noor leaving England. She started flying from Reepham, crossed the English Channel and landed in Angers, where Noor had arrived 80 years ago. Furthermore, Smith followed Noor’s route during her trip to France.

After completing the mission, Smith said that she laid a wreath at the monument dedicated to Noor at the War Memorial in Angers, and also read out Sufi prayer. She also claimed that her mission was a successful one.

It may be noted that thousands of Indian soldiers had arrived in England to fight for the British Empire during the First World War. They were remembered at a ceremony in the seaside English village of Barton on Sea near Hampshire in the second week of July 2023. The Indian soldiers, who got injured during the War, had arrived in Barton on Sea in 1914 mainly to make health recovery. The locals looked after these special guests during that period of time. The British Government also built an Indian club near the beach for their entertainment. Inayat Khan Rehmat Khan, the father of Noor Inayet Khan, and other musicians met those Indian soldiers and performed for them.

Often, the Indian soldiers were taken on a tour of central London. They reportedly visited Buckingham Palace and Madame Tussauds. After they left Barton on Sea in 1917, locals raised funds to build a monument near the beach in memory of those Indian soldiers. As the First World War was not yet over, it was one of the first war memorials built in Britain.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das