In honor of Noor Inayat Khan’s 75th Urs, the book “Noor-un-nisa: Madeleine” by Jean Overton Fuller is being reprinted by Suluk Press in an expanded edition and due to be released in October.
Noor Inayat Khan (1914-1944) was SOE’s first woman wireless transmitter in German Occupied Paris during World War II. Posthumously awarded the George Cross MBE and Croix de Guerre with Gold Star for her outstanding wartime service and heroism on behalf of the Allied cause, Noor’s remarkable and inspiring life have been commemorated in numerous war memorials, WWII histories, and several recent films.
Born to an American mother, Ora Ray Baker, and an Indian Sufi father, Hazrat Inayat Khan, Noor was raised in France, studying music under Nadia Boulanger and child psychology at the Sorbonne. A published writer of children’s stories, her career was interrupted by the German invasion of France. Fleeing to England, Noor enlisted in the WAAF where she trained as a wireless transmitter. Her Parisian background and wireless skills led to her recruitment by the SOE (Special Operations Executive). In 1943 she returned to France under the code name “Madeleine.” Constantly moving between multiple locations and using false identities, Noor transmitted messages for the SOE’s French and RF (République Française) sections, and for De Gaulle’s Free French. Betrayed by an acquaintance, she was captured by the Gestapo and held for interrogation at the Sicherheitsdienst headquarters in Paris. After repeated escape attempts, she was deemed a dangerous prisoner and transferred to Pforzheim prison in Germany, where she was held in maximum security and solitary confinement. As the war drew to an end in the fall of 1944, Noor was transported to Dachau. Her last word before execution was “Liberté!”
This new edition of “Noor-un-nisa Inayat Khan: Madeleine” includes previously unpublished material including a retrospective by Noor’s brother Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan, Noor’s friendship with the author, and further research on Noor’s life and the SOE.
Noor-un-nisa Inayat Khan: Madeleine by Jean Overton Fuller
$26.95 paper 430 pages
Preorder at www.omegapub.com