A little-known hero of the Second World War has been honoured with a Blue Plaque.
English Heritage has marked the life of Noor Inayat Khan, who was selected for the honour due to her role as Britain’s first Muslim war heroine in Europe.
Khan, who was of Indian and American heritage, was the first undercover female radio operator to be flown into Nazi-occupied France.
Dubbed an “unlikely spy”, Khan served behind enemy lines in the Special Operations Executive, a body set-up by Sir Winston Churchill in 1940.
The heroine began her mission in 1943, but was arrested by the feared Gestapo. She managed to escape from prison, but was shortly recaptured and was transferred to Dachau concentration camp where she was killed in 1944.
Despite undergoing repeated torture, the dedicated secret agent had refused to reveal any information to her captors - even her real name.
The plaque has been placed on the Khan family’s London home on Taviton Street in Bloomsbury. It was the address the resourceful secret agent scratched onto the base of her feeding bowl in an attempt to communicate her capture to other prisoners, following her capture by the Gestapo.
The memorial token will be officially unveiled on Friday evening by the spy’s biographer, Shrabani Basu - who hopes the spy and “vision of unity and freedom” will inspire future generations.
She said: "When Noor Inayat Khan left this house on her last mission, she would never have dreamed that one day she would become a symbol of bravery. She was an unlikely spy.
"As a Sufi she believed in non-violence and religious harmony. Yet when her adopted country needed her, she unhesitatingly gave her life in the fight against Fascism.
"It is fitting that Noor Inayat Khan is the first woman of Indian origin to be remembered with a Blue Plaque. As people walk by, Noor's story will continue to inspire future generations.
"In today's world, her vision of unity and freedom is more important than ever."
Just 14 per cent of more than 950 English Heritage Blue Plaques dotted around the capital celebrate women, and the unveiling comes after the organisation admitted the proportion is “still unacceptably low”.
Plaques planned for 2020 also include tributes to another female secret agent, Christine Granville, and to the artist Barbara Hepworth.
The charity said that "if we are to continue to see a significant increase in the number of blue plaques for women, we need more female suggestions".
The unveiling will take place at 7pm on Friday on English Heritage's Facebook channel.
With additional reporting from PA Media.
