MP calls to put WWII spy on back of new £50 banknote

Calls for Muslim wartime heroine who ran Churchill’s resistance network in occupied France before being executed by the Nazis to be face of new £50 note

Noor Inayat Khan was sent to Paris in June 1943 with the codename Madeleine to conduct secret operations
Aged just 29 she helped run the Prosper Network – a resistance operation ordered to ‘set Europe ablaze’
Much of the network was betrayed however and she eventually faced torture and execution by the Gestapo
Tom Tugendhat MP is now calling for her to feature on the new £50 note as an example of great sacrifice

Noor Inayat Khan (pictured in her Women’s Auxiliary Air Force uniform) came to Britain after Paris fell to the Nazis in 1940. It was not long until she would return as part of the Prosper Network – a resistance communications operation in Paris which had been ordered by Churchill to ‘set Europe ablaze’. The network was part of the super-secret British intelligence unit called the Special Operations Executive (SOE) and comprised dozens of various resistance groups in France

Betrayed, tortured and executed – the first woman radio operator to be flown into occupied France suffered immensely during WWII.

Falling into the hands of the Gestapo, Noor Inayat Khan was tortured and spent most of her time shackled at her hands and feet.

But she refused to reveal any British secrets and was eventually executed at gunpoint in a Nazi concentration camp.

There are now calls for the 30-year-old heroine to be the face of the new £50 note – which was saved last week following an announcement by Robert Jenrick, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury.

Khan would become the first person of an ethnic minority background to feature on a British banknote.

Her story is one of great suffering but also immense courage and she has long been hailed as great hero of the war.

Born in Moscow to an Indian father and an American mother, Noor was a descendant of Tipu Sultan, the 18th century ruler of Mysore. The family lived in London, moving to Paris when Noor was six.

She studied the harp, gained a degree in child psychology and wrote children’s stories.

When Paris fell to the Nazis in 1940, she returned to London and volunteered for the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force.

Recruited by the Special Operations Executive (SOE) in 1942, she was sent to Paris in June 1943 with the codename Madeleine and aged just 29.

While there she helped run the Prosper Network – a resistance communications operation in Paris which had been ordered by Churchill to ‘set Europe ablaze’.

Khan (pictured with a sitar) was born in Moscow to an Indian father and an American mother, and was a descendant of Tipu Sultan, the 18th century ruler of Mysore. The family lived in London, moving to Paris when Khan was six. She was musical in her youth and studied the harp while in Paris. She also gained a degree in child psychology and wrote children’s stories

Calling herself ‘Norah Baker’, Khan (pictured in her youth) offered her services as a secret agent to Britain’s Special Operations Executive (SOE) in 1942. Although at first described by superiors as ‘too emotional’ for work behind enemy lines, her ‘conspicuous courage in extreme danger’ made her one of only four women ever to win the George Cross

Khan (left) was exectuted at Dachau Concentration camp in September 1944. Wilhelm Ruppert (pictured right awaiting trial for war crimes), commandant of the camp, is believed responsible for her execution alongside three other SOE agents, Yolande Beekman, Madeleine Damerment and Eliane Plewman

What was the Prosper network? The resistance group ordered by Winston Churchill to ‘set Europe ablaze’

The Prosper network was part of the super-secret British intelligence unit called the Special Operations Executive (SOE).

The primary mission of the SOE was to aid resistance fighters in Nazi-occupied Europe by any means possible.

This would include sabotage, subversion and even assassination behind enemy lines.

They had an influential supporter in Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who famously ordered them to ‘set Europe ablaze’.

The SOE was made up of a number of independent resistance groups established in France.

Prosper, led by Francis Suttill, was one of these. It was first established in 1942.

Two French women, Yvonne Rudelatt and Andree Borrel, were parachuted into France to prepare the way for Suttill to arrive on October 1.

Others later joined them, including Henri Dericourt.

The team, also now including Noor Inayat Khan, was tasked with facilitating drops of arms and munitions, alongside feeding back information to the British.

It wasn’t long however before many of the team were betrayed, including Suttill who was tortured and later executed.

Questions were raised over whether Dericourt had betrayed the team with many suspecting him of being a double-agent.

Following the betrayal in 1944 much of the Prosper network was arrested and it ceased to function.

Dericourt never faced any punitive action over his suspected betrayal.

Khan was in charge of sending and receiving wireless secret messages to and from London. She aided in the release of 30 downed airmen and helped them return to safety.

Many members of the network were soon arrested, but Noor chose to remain in France, trying to send messages back to London while avoiding capture.

That October she was betrayed by a Frenchwoman and arrested by the Gestapo. She was kept in chains and in solitary confinement. Her captors kicked and interrogated her but she revealed nothing.

She was eventually taken to Dachau concentration camp alongside three other SOE agents, Yolande Beekman, Madeleine Damerment and Eliane Plewman, to Dachau concentration camp.

They were executed in the early hours of September 13, 1944. It is believed Wilhelm Ruppert, commandant of the camp, was responsible for their executions.

When posthumously awarded the George Cross, Britain’s highest civilian decoration, for her gallantry in 1949.

The citation read: ‘She refused to abandon what had become the principal and most dangerous post in France, although given the opportunity to return to England, because she did not wish to leave her French comrades without communications.’

Noor was one of only three women in the SOE to be awarded the medal. The other two – Violette Szabo and Odette Hallowes – have been more widely known and celebrated until now.

In 2012, seven decades after her death, a statue to the forgotten heroine was unveiled in London by the Princess Royal.

The bronze bust commemorating Britain’s only female Muslim war heroine was the first stand-alone memorial to an Asian woman in the UK.

It stands in Gordon Square near the house where Noor lived and from where she left on her last mission, unable to tell her mother she might never return.

Princess Anne said stories such as Noor’s are ‘remarkable in their own right’ but have a real connection to make with the modern age through their ‘multi-cultural aspect’.

Ms Khan’s actions have led Tom Tugendhat MP to push for her to be featured on the £50 note as an example of the sacrifice secret service members make for their country.

He told The Daily Telegraph: ‘A national hero who reflects what we value most should be on the new £50.

‘Noor Inayat Khan GC does that. She must be pretty unusual, if not absolutely unique.’

He is supporting a change.org petition first started by social activist Zehra Zaidi which calls for Khan to feature on the note.

The petition says: ‘We would like for Noor Inayat Khan, who fought in World War 2 for Britain and for the freedoms that we have today, to become the new face of the £50 note.

‘In this age, when we see a rise in antisemitism, anti-Muslim hatred and intolerance, it is important that we continue to build bridges and show positive contributions from Britain’s ethnic and religious minorities, not least one of World War 2’s almost forgotten heroes, a British Muslim woman.

Khan was given the codename ‘Madeleine’ when she joined the Special Operations Executive. She was sent to Paris in June 1943 aged just 29. While there she worked as a wireless operator whose job it was to send and receive secret messages to and from London. Through her work she aided in the release of 30 downed airmen and helped them return to safety

‘Her message of peace and religious harmony is equally as relevant today. Put Noor on the £50 note.’

The petition had reached more than 900 signatures at the time of writing and Tugendhat and Zaidi hope she can be a tonic for modern day society.

They say ‘Noor’s story resonates to this day. We see rising populism and division across Europe. We see an increase in antisemitism, anti-Muslim hatred and intolerance.

‘Never has there been more of a need to bring communities together. Let us recognise the positive contributions of Muslims in this country and this one remarkable woman in particular.’

The new £50 note was saved earlier this month despite concerns they were only used by criminals and currency investors and will now join the £5 and £10 notes in being upgraded from paper to a long-lasting polymer.

Originally introduced in 1981, there are currently 330 million £50 notes in circulation – with a combined value of £16.5 billion – with Bank of England evidence showing that demand for the note is continuing to rise.

The Treasury said in a statement that the move will ‘give people more flexibility over how they spend and manage their money, while making it harder for criminals to counterfeit the note for illegal activity.’

Polymer banknotes can incorporate security features which are not viable for paper ones and make them hard to counterfeit, including metameric inks (a pair of inks which look the same colour to the human eye but are actually different).

This, the Treasury says, will ‘ensure the UK’s currency continues to be one of the securest in the world.’

In 2012, seven decades after her death, a statue to the Noor Inayat Khan (pictured) was unveiled in London by Princess Anne (left). The Princess Royal said stories such as Noor’s are ‘remarkable in their own right’ but have a real connection to make with the modern age through their ‘multi-cultural aspect’

WSTale.com

MP calls to put WWII spy on back of new £50 banknote

Calls for Muslim wartime heroine who ran Churchill’s resistance network in occupied France before being executed by the Nazis to be face of new £50 note

What was the Prosper network? The resistance group ordered by Winston Churchill to ‘set Europe ablaze’

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