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Indian war heroine recognised by school children

15/ 1/2008

THE tragic story of a 'forgotten' British war heroine has been turned into a book by pupils at a Manchester school.

Children at Chorlton CoE Primary school relived the exploits of Noor Inayat Khan, a British spy of Indian descent who parachuted into occupied France to report on information about Nazi activity.

Year 6 pupils teamed up with a Manchester-based learning trust to create the book, Liberte: The Life of Noor Inayat Khan.

It will be distributed to other schools and will be launched at Salford's Imperial War Museum.

Born in Russia to Indian parents, Noor's family fled to London at the start of the war.

Despite being described as `too shy' for frontline service by military intelligence, her excellent operational skills and fluent French meant she was chosen for the dangerous mission with the Special Operations Executive.

Noor was at one point the only link between Britain and the French resistance and her job was described as `the most important and dangerous in France'.

But she was betrayed by a traitor within the resistance and captured by the Gestapo.

Despite being interrogated she never revealed any secrets before her execution at Dachau concentration camp in 1944, aged 30.

She was posthumously awarded the George Cross and the French Croix de Guerre.

Teacher Jackie Ould, who works with The Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Education Trust which published the book, said it was important to highlight the achievements of black and Asian role models.

She said: "The book fills a yawning gap in our knowledge of black British heroes. The children have really added to our appreciation of Noor by creating diary entries as if they were written by her."