Noor Inayat Khan: The Unbreakable Spy Princess

For once Dutch bows his head to true female supremacy.

Pay attention please, this is what elite truly looks like.
Or as Sherlock says: "that woman." (Image BBC)

Continuing from yesterday, today the story of an unflinching heroine who bought herself a one way ticket to Nazi hell. Let's get ready to rumble: the Enchantress of Number vs. The Spy Princess. If you think this is an episode of The Voice Knock-Out, sorry.

The Bank of England is deciding which scientist to put on the new £50 note. Why does it have to be a scientist? Only the Bank of Brexit's Canadian boss can tell you. All in favour of scientist Ada Lovelace, my mind was made up until I read about Noor Inayat Khan.

Young Noor was a dreamy, sensitive young girl who wrote children's books and brought up respecting Gandhi's nonviolent philosophy. Erroneously Her contemporaries believed The Unbreakable Spy Princess didn't have what it takes. We all know secret warfare is not for everyone. A poor athlete, clumsy and afraid of weapons, what was this Muslim Girl thinking? Lesson number one: those who stand out act upon their gut belief before contemplating how to reach their exact goal. Mrs. Khan is a prime example.

After fleeing Nazi-occupied France, Noor signed up for the war effort. A talented musician, She excelled as a wireless operator, the most dangerous job of all behind enemy lines. Aircraft crews routinely celebrated their 25th mission. The great majority of them didn't make it that far. The odds for W/T operators were worse. When things went sour - and they usually did - the moment the Nazi prisoners could finally embrace death as a friend, sadly, took an excruciating long time.

Her training officers expressed doubts about Noor's suitability. "She came here with the foggiest idea of what to do." That didn't deter Her. The guys who successfully make it through special forces training are usually not the strongest ones. The motivation to contribute to something bigger than themselves is what gets the men through the ordeal. It breeds determination and perseverance. Same with Mrs. Khan.

Time and again Noor Inayat Khan proved being ill-fitted for the job. During a mock Gestapo interrogation, Her interrogating officer found it "almost unbearable" and reported that "She seemed terrified… so overwhelmed She nearly lost Her voice". And that afterwards "She was trembling and quite blanched." They were so wrong. Mrs. Khan believed in Her ability to succeed. Just before Her first - and only - mission, She was offered the honorable way out. Noor flatly refused. The really hard thing for Mrs. Khan was saying goodbye to Her widowed mother. Some 15 years before, after Her father had died, She took on the responsibility for Her grief-stricken Mom and Her younger siblings.

Romanticized but no less brave.
Hate that misplaced smile.
(Image Rejected Princess, edited)

On the night of June 16 1943 "Madeleine" landed in Northern France. Her mission was doomed from the start. Barely a week after Noor entered Paris, virtually all of SOE’s operators in the city were caught in a giant sweep by the Gestapo. Noor evaded capture and was left as the only undercover radio operator in Paris. Imagine the all-out Nazi manhunt for a single young woman - of colour! Despite that, She refused to be brought back to Britain, realizing just how important Her work was. Eventually The Unbreakable Spy Princess Noor Inayat Khan was betrayed by a double agent. It took six male Gestapo officers to hold down a Single, Petite, "Poor Athletic", Children's Book Author. In the end it is always about the fight within. A few hours after Her arrest, Noor tried Her first escape. It failed and so did another one. What it did manage to do, however, was to earn The Unbreakable Spy Princess the label "Petite Et Très Dangereuxs." Because of that Noor Inayat Khan was doomed to spend most of the final year of Her young life in chains.

The Nazi's used a gruesome, three-tier system for torturing and extracting intel from their prisoners. No need for details. If you were beyond doomed, and completely out of luck to survive the first two stages, it no longer mattered whether you talked or not. The interrogation was designed to kill you. That bad? Yes.

Mrs. Khan never revealed any secrets. A year after Her capture, Noor was sent to Dachau concentration camp. In Her final - and one of Noor Inayat Khan several finest hours - The Unbreakable Spy Princess was forced to kneel next to the grave that should have had the decency to swallow Her long before. Even then The Unbreakable Spy Princess wasn't granted a quick and painless crossing-over. In war it's hard to preserve even a shred of human dignity, but the self-proclaimed Uebermensch (superior race, apologies for the capitalization) proved once again, even scraping the bottom of the barrel, set too high a bar for the blond dolls in uniforms. Mrs. Khan's last words before Her executioners opened fire were "liberté!". How could Her handlers two years earlier be so wrong about The Young Lady they dubbed "the most unlikely secret agent?"

Looking back, Mrs. Khan's merciless beatings, especially the ones during her final hours, show the world once again - completely superfluously - just how rotten and evil Her captors truly were. Meanwhile Noor Inayat Khan, The Unbreakable Spy Princess proved, under the most inhumane of circumstances, to be the very opposite. Ridiculed by Her instructors in Britain, two dozen months before, Mrs. Khan suffered like no human ever should. She did so until the very moment of Her death. Noor Inayat Khan shows us once again that heroes are made, not born. Looking back, Mrs. Khan is now incorporated in the Pantheon of Humanity, made up of all those who stand for everything that is good and admirable about the people of this earth.

These days hardly anyone remembers Her. You can be a princess all you want, but if you're born in the wrong country, history doesn't care. Tell me again, why were we fighting Hitler and his cronies in the first place? History hasn't been exactly kind to Ada Lovelace either. Noor Inayat Khan died a mere 30 years old. Ada, too, passed away at a young age. She was halfway her thirties, 36 to be precise, when she died. Both women are part of the secret army of unsung heroes. Yes, their lives were shaped by the times they lived in, but that goes for all of us. Above all, they made their own, often hard choices. It is pointless to argue who is the better person. Stop judging! Leave that to the indignant, ill-informed mob on social media. The zucker is rich enough! That doesn't mean we don't all have our preferences. "Blue pill or red pill, sir?"

You know, 11 not only stands for eleven. It also means one and one. Throw in some typical Dutch behaviour and let's split the bill, half of the new £50 notes with the portrait of Ada Lovelace, the other half featuring the image of Noor Inayat Khan. Eleven to the rescue once again. Somehow I don't think that's gonna happen. I was so happy to be wrong about the first female Timelord, let's try that again.

Finally:

Back to the words "supreme" "elite" and "blablabla" from yesterday. Still not sure what it means, but whatever it is, it was never meant as silly self-serving lingo for women who have feel an itch to express just how dominant, strong, superior or whatever they crave to be. In terms of humanity, Mrs. Khan is the elite of what mankind has to offer. "The One of the conversation, capable of strong attachments, kind hearted, emotional, imaginative." I'll settle for a short talk with Her any time over the dommeliest 24/7/365 goddessy thing of a lifetime with the most supreme, elite, or premier of dommes anywhere. For once I bow my head to female supremacy. Happily, grateful and of my own free will.

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Notes (sorry, sad ones only):

[1] During Her mock Gestapo interview Mrs. Khan already was afraid. Imagine the haunting fear that must have terrorized Her during her year as a Gestapo prisoner. Still She didn't give Her interrogators anything, defying them 'till Her last breath. Even if you cannot win, you can make the other party loose. Splendid.

[2] It must have been a terrible blow to the Nazi ego to be unable to break a Single, Petite Muslim Girl. You've spent all this time creating your ultimate fantasy of belonging to an imaginary master race, free racism and all, and then A Single Young Woman comes along. One Who shows you that your club of leather-dressed dolls in uniforms is the very opposite of a superior race. Neither are you part of the human race - and yes the blame is once again on you. After all, if you were a truly superior race, you wouldn't have lost the war, now would you? Unfortunately history repeats itself.

[3] Perhaps the life story of Noor Inayat Khan is something to think about next time you hurry home to put on your Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS outfit. How 'bout enjoying the same hot fantasy without actual Nazi symbols. Dropping the swastikas is a start. Just a suggestion.

[4] Found one book about the life of Mrs. Khan. No, you don't have to buy it for me. I'll leave the begging to those who mistake greed for an interest in kink.

[5] History repeats itself. In an excellent article, The New York Times writes how "U.S. Law Enforcement Failed to See the Threat of White Nationalism. Now They Don’t Know How to Stop It." [Saturday, November 03, 2018]

[6] It's one of those days I wish I was rich like Bill Gates. My billions would guarantee that Noor Inayat Khan is remembered on the new £50 note and that would just be the beginning. It also shows you how very much non-billionair I am. With that amount of money one should be much more ambitious.

[7] Remember Allo Allo, the comedy series about occupied France? With the BBC running out of ideas for the Doctor Who Christmas episode - this year it will be shown on New Year's Day instead - why not mix Allo Allo with the real world heroism of Mrs. Khan adding a bit of Doctor Whozardry?

Yes, Noor gets killed, not even the Doctor can change that. However shortly before She dies, The Spy Princess hands the Doctor a message for Her mother. Over the next few months - Noble Noor was executed on September 13, 1944 - the Doctor struggles to deliver Her goodbye. In order to do so, the Timelord outsmarts the usual evil aliens, and especially the Daleks in this episode. After all, those tin machine slash miserable men are nothing but space Nazis. "Exterminate!" Snow falls, Christmas Eve has arrived and the Doctor at last manages to deliver Noor's final words to Her mother. Like any Mom, she already knows Her Daughter won't be coming back. Reading the letter, Mom slowly begins to realize the strength of Her Daughter's convictions and the importance of the sacrifice Her Oldest One decided to make. Above all, she understands it was not only the right choice but the only choice for Noor.

Last scene, the camera slowly turns away from the sideboard with the letter resting on top of the children's book Noor wrote in 1939, towards the dinner table where the family has gathered for their annual Christmas meal. Even though Mom will spend the rest of her life struggling with the loss of Her Oldest Daughter, Noor's final message sets Mom free, allowing her to return to the here and now. Unlike last year she enjoys Christmas with her family. Come on BBC! How hard can it be?

So New Years' Day then? Who cares? On the first day of 2019 Luther returns. And perhaps Alice too!