WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - Undetected: Noor Inayat Khan

Episode Date: January 28, 2025

Megan and Alessia are back to explore the life of Noor Inayat Khan, the first female radio operator in Nazi-occupied France.

A girl ran to the window. As she broke it open, she was greeted by the first drops of the approaching storm. The girl, careful not to be seen by passers on the street, caught a glimpse of a truck and a black car parked just beneath the window. Fear seized her. The Gestapo was there. How did they know? She was jolted from her frozen panic as the footsteps grew closer and closer. They were coming, and they were looking for something or someone.

The girl ran as fast as she could to the briefcase on her desk. She stashed it under the small bed in the room. She stood up and stopped moving. The Germans were too close now. She surveyed the room. Her only possible means of escape was the window. But that couldn't work. She was three stories off the ground,

and there were soldiers on the street who would surely spot a woman climbing out the window. There was no way out. She was trapped. Her only option was to fight. So she hid behind the door. At least that would give her the element of surprise. A harsh knot came at the door.

The girl took one final look out the window at the coming storm, the Gestapo was coming for her. Welcome to Undetected on Radio Free Hillsdale. Go undercover with your hosts, Alessia Sandala and Megan Lee, as they uncover the stories of spies from every country and time. The most thrilling, yet the most secret of lives in history. Hey, Alessia, it's so great to be back for season three to talk about a spy you first introduced me to

when we watched the movie A Call to Spy last year. Kahn was born on New Year's Day, 1914, in Moscow. her father was Indian and her mother was American. Khan's father worked as a traveling Sufi teacher. Khan's family moved to London, then Paris, when she was a child. She received her education in Paris and as a result was fluent in French. However, her peaceful life in France would not last. As the Second World War broke out and Nazis invaded France, Khan knew she had to do something. Despite her Sufi principles of non-aggression and peace, she was determined to fight for her beloved France. Khan and her family managed to escape to England in 1940. Shortly after arriving in England,

Khan would enlist in the women's auxiliary air force or WAF. Two years later, in 1942, Con was recruited to play a more involved part in the war. She was identified by the SOE or Special Operations Executive as a potential agent and soon began her training. While in training, some of her instructors were unsure if she was fit for the life of a spy. This task was unlike anything she had ever experienced before, but the lack of agents in France meant she was needed more than ever. Khan, co-named Madeline, was flown into France in June of 1940, to serve as a radio or wireless operator for the Prosper Network in Paris.

Prosper was the SOE's largest and most important network in France at this point in the war. It was especially dangerous for a wireless operator because the Germans had special units dedicated to tracking their signals. A wireless operator was one of the most important members of any resistance cell. Without a wireless, the cell's communication with London and therefore supplies would be cut off. So Khan's job, to say the least, was really important, and it was a bad sign that she hadn't been training with the SOE for very long at all. Shortly after her arrival in Paris, Khan found herself in the middle of a catastrophe.

The Prosper Network had begun to collapse at the hands of the Gestapo. They arrested hundreds of agents that were connected to the network, including its leader, Francis Settle. Most were tortured for information, then either sent to a concentration camp or were immediately executed. Those sent to a concentration camp were typically executed, but there were some agents who managed to survive until liberation. It is still uncertain how the Prosper Network collapsed so quickly. Some believe another agent named Henry Derichort was a double agent working for the Germans and that he betrayed the network. However, after the war, he was tried as a double agent and acquitted. Other historians believe that British intelligence deliberately gave up Prosper to the Germans.

It seems as though we may never know who brought death to the Prosper Network or why, but the destruction of Prosper was not the end of Khan's story. Khan survived the onslaught of arrests and executions. She, however, was left alone. She moved from place to place, attempting to stay under the radar and continue receiving messages from London during the summer of 1943. The Nazis, however, were on her trail. In October 1943, Kahn's luck had run out. Gestapo agents barged into the building where she was staying.

She fought back, but in the end, Kahn was dragged away for interrogation. Khan had been betrayed. There are several theories as to who betrayed Kahn. The most believed theory is that a French woman, who was the sister of a resistance agent, Renee Gary, was behind it. While suffering in a cell at Gestapo headquarters in Paris, Khan refused to give up any information. She and another agent attempted to escape in November.

but they were recaptured a few hours later. Khan also attempted another unsuccessful escape at the prison. Khan had made a fatal mistake, though. She had written down codes in her notebook. The Gestapo found this and proceeded to use the codes within to send false messages to London. Khan was eventually moved to a prison in Germany as a result of her refusal to give up any information

and her escape attempts. She was labeled as highly dangerous. At this new prison, she was kept in solitary confinement for 10 months until being moved to a concentration camp. After being tortured, Khan was shot and executed in September of 1944. Honestly, her greatest downfall was her lack of training. Despite the breach caused by her notebook,

Khan never divulged a single piece of information to the Nazis. I'm Megan. And I'm Alessia. We hope you enjoyed this episode of Undetected. Be sure to follow us on Instagram at WRFH underscore Undetected for more spy content. Tune in next week for the fall of the last two Nazi spies in America on Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM.