33. From an Auxiliary Outfit for Women, to the Special Operations Executive
Noor Inayat Khan’s requests for a more challenging assignment did not escape the attention of British intelligence. Having grown up in France and being fluent in French, she was quite a catch. Noor was recruited by the French section of the Special Operations Executive (SOE), and in early 1943, was sent to receive special training as a wireless operator behind enemy lines.
Other SOE women had been sent to France before Noor. However, the Muslim princess was the first of the SOE’s women infiltrate into France as a wireless operator – the other women sent before she had all been couriers. Noor’s job was to maintain a link between the Resistance in France, and the Allies in London, sending and receiving messages to coordinate activities.