Noor Inayat Khan was born in St Petersburg on the 1st of January 1914. Her father, a travelling musician, was in St Petersburg with her mother, an American who he had met on his travels in the US. Noor is known in popular culture as “the Spy Princess”, because her great-great-great-great grandfather was the last Tippoo of Mysore. However, there is no evidence that Noor ever called herself a princess, or that her immediate family considered themselves to be royals.
Shortly before the outbreak of the First World War, the family moved to London. Six years later, they moved to Suresnes in France, where Noor would spend the rest of her childhood. Her father had left his musical career behind in order to become a Sufi cleric, but died in 1927, when Noor was just 13.
In 1931, Noor began her studies at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris, where she spent six years and learned to play the harp and piano. In 1932, she enrolled at the Sorbonne to study child psychology. She was a prolific writer, writing many poems and children’s stories, including for the Sunday Figaro newspaper. Her book, Twenty Jakata Tales, was published in England in 1939 and her stories were broadcast on Radio Paris.
The family fled south when Germany invaded France in 1940, and eventually ended up in England. Noor’s younger brother Vilayat joined the Royal Navy and she joined the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force, where she was trained as a wireless operator. Her wireless skill and fluent French brought her to the attention of SOE, who recruited her and sent her to be trained as an agent.
While she passed her training, a feat that many did not manage, not all of Noor’s instructors were confident about her ability. She performed poorly on a field security exercise in Bristol, telling a police officer who questioned her that she was a secret agent. When she underwent the infamous mock interrogation towards the end of her training, she was reportedly left shaking and again performed poorly.
In a report shortly before she was sent into France, one officer wrote that she was “not overburdened with brains” and that she had “an unstable and temperamental personality”. In the margin next to his comments, Maurice Buckmaster, F Section’s head, wrote “we don’t want them overburdened with brains”. Next to the officer’s comments on her personality, he wrote “nonsense”. Buckmaster would later describe her instructors’ criticisms as “absolute balls”. Training instructors’ reports did not always prove accurate - several agents who later went on to great success in the field, including Violette Szabo, who was awarded the George Cross, received poor reports. The end decision lay with Buckmaster.
Despite the doubts of some in SOE, the need for wireless operators was dire, and Noor was the only one available to be sent into France. On the night of the 17th of June 1943 she was landed in a field near Angers; the first female wireless operator to be sent into France. Her codename: Madeleine.
Being a wireless radio operator was one of the most dangerous jobs of the secret war. On top of random searches, denunciations and betrayals, wireless operators had to deal with the ever present threat of German direction finding units. Once a transmission began, it was a race against time before Gestapo agents came knocking at the door. Operators who transmitted for too long or from the same location too many times would swiftly be arrested. There was more leeway in the countryside, but in urban areas a transmission which lasted longer than half an hour was extraordinarily dangerous.
Noor’s task was to act as the wireless operator for the CINEMA network, or circuit, which was active to the South West of Paris, and formed a smaller subsection of the main PHYSICIAN network, masterminded by Francis Suttill. However, disaster struck as the Nazis captured a series of SOE agents and wireless operators, culminating in the arrest of Francis Suttil himself. Over the course of the next few days, hundreds of French resistants and up to thirty SOE agents were arrested. Noor escaped capture, but the PHYSICIAN network was doomed. Noor remained the only allied wireless operator in Paris.
Over the course of the next two months, Noor continued to transmit from Paris, undertaking extraordinary risks and having a number of close calls. On one occasion, a young German soldier spotted her laying out the aerial for her wireless radio, but instead of arresting her, helped her lay it out, assuming it was for a civilian receiver. On another occasion, she was stopped by two German officers while carrying a wireless radio in her suitcase. She was able to bluff her way out of the check by claiming it was cinema equipment. Noor refused a number of offers from London to evacuate her, refusing to leave Paris without an operator.
On the 13th of October, as Noor was returning to her flat, she saw two men outside who began to follow her. She was able to lose them and returned to her flat a few hours later. However, a French officer working for the Gestapo was waiting inside. A vicious fight ensued, ending with the French officer holding Noor at gunpoint while he called for backup. It duly arrived, and Noor was arrested. It is believed that Renee Garry, sister of a member of Noor’s network, betrayed her to the Germans for 100,000 francs. However, she was acquitted at a postwar trial. It is a generally accepted statistic - although its exact provenance is unclear - that the life expectancy of an SOE wireless operator was six weeks. Noor survived as the only SOE operator in Paris - perhaps the most dangerous post in the whole of France - for three months and nineteen days.
After her arrest, Noor was taken to the infamous 84 Avenue Foch, the headquarters of the Sicherheitsdienst in Paris. She was not a compliant prisoner, launching two escape attempts - one on her own and one in coordination with two other SOE agents being held there. During her time at Avenue Foch, Noor did not give away any details about SOE under interrogation (it is not believed she was subjected to torture). Unfortunately, however, she told an interrogator details about her personal life. A German operator, posing as Noor, was able to use these details to convince SOE that she had not been arrested. The Germans were able to arrange for three further SOE agents and a number of arms and money shipments to be parachuted straight into Nazi hands.
After the failure of her second escape attempt, her captors asked her to sign an agreement saying she would not attempt a third time. She refused and was sent to Pforzheim prison in chains. Although kept in solitary confinement, Noor was able to communicate with other prisoners by scratching messages into the base of her food bowl. Through the bowl scratchings, Noor informed her fellow prisoners that she was a British agent. They in turn were able to keep her up to date with news from the outside world. On a number of occasions they witnessed her being beaten by the prison guards.
The circumstances surrounding Noor’s death are not entirely clear. After the war, Vera Atkins travelled to Germany in an attempt to discover the whereabouts and fate of the 118 missing agents of SOE’s F Section. Following interviews with Gestapo officers, camp guards and former prisoners she was able to establish that on the 12th of September 1944, Noor, along with her fellow SOE agents Yolande Beekman, Madeleine Damerment and Eliane Plewman, was transferred to Dachau concentration camp. On the morning of the 13th, the four women were murdered by the Nazis, and their bodies burnt in the camp crematorium. Testimony received by Noor’s biographer Jeanne Overton Fuller some years later claimed that she was singled out for particularly brutal treatment. A former prisoner at Dachau said he was told that her last word before being shot was “liberté”. Noor was thirty years old.
Further reading:
There are two major biographies of Noor - the first, by Jean Overton Fuller is older and has a lot of factual mistakes but Jean knew Noor personally. The second, by Shrabani Basu, has the benefit of being more recent as well as being a good read. The Spy Princess title is a bit dodgy but has no relation to the quality of the book.
For a more general overview of SOE F Section’s female agents, the recently published Mission France is a good start - it’s well researched and gives broader context to the period.
Snoollarrawarre Bennelong, based on Woollarrawarre Bennelong (credit to /u/hillsonghoods who is timezoned)
Woollarrawarre Bennelong was probably about 26 years old, a fully initiated but still junior warrior of the Eora (in particular the Wangal clan), when he and another warrior, Colebee, were captured by the British in November 1789. His capture was not intended as a precursor punishment, per se; the British wanted to start a dialogue with the Eora and captured Bennelong much as they'd captured other 'savages' on other continents. Between the British arriving in January 1788 and November 1789, the Eora clan had suffered horrifically from a smallpox epidemic; Bennelong told Governor Phillip that half of his people had died, including his wife. This may be why Bennelong made the decision to do-operate (…to an extent) with the British; his people had already suffered the equivalent of Thanos's Snap, and the British were not going away.
So while Colebee escaped at the first opportunity, Bennelong spent about 6 months as the prisoner/guest of the British before deciding to jump the fence and head back to his people. He appeared to be a canny perceptive observer of British customs, and came to call Governor Philip 'father' in the language of the Eora, Been-èn-a.
Names, for the Eora, were complex; Eora people had several names that they used in different contexts. One name Eora had was related to the first fish they had caught in Sydney Harbour - one early Sydney writer, Judge Advocate David Collins, said that 'Bennillong told me his name was that of a large fish, but one that I never saw taken.' Bennelong would called Collins 'babunna', meaning brother. Other names Bennelong had included Woollarawarre (which was the name he told Watkin Tench that he preferred, at least for a time), Boinba, Wogultrowe, and Bunde-Bunda.
Bennelong claimed that Goat Island on Sydney Harbour was his family's property. On the site of the modern Sydney Opera House once sat a simple brick house that Governor Arthur Philip had ordered to be built for Bennelong.
For those who came across the seas, the land on the far side of the world was full of mysteries and wonders, things that they simply had no reference for. One can only imagine seeing all the strange mammals and plant life - the melodious birds so similar but so different, and all the smells of the local plants, and the strange creatures that often resembled the creatures you grew up, except deeply alien. And then there's the carefully curated landscapes, maximised to help the locals fill a ecological niche. And then there's the local people themselves, with their strange, strange customs, where - it's clear - they're people who can be both gentle and brutal, whose codes of justice are baffling, but who are clearly just as human as the people you grew up (though sometimes it's hard to see them as fully human).
Bennelong was likely the first Australian indigenous person to visit Britain, and he must have experienced many of these things as he found his way into London with all these strange pale-skinned people (who he and his people had initially thought must be ghosts). We can only imagine Bennelong's reaction when he visited those shores on the other side of the world, thanks to the British. We largely can only imagine it because nobody bothered to record his reactions in much detail. He was just another 'savage', as far as the British were concerned. He was apparently the first New World 'savage' transported to the UK who didn't meet the reigning monarch, unlike some of the Polynesians, Iroquois and Cherokee who'd previously been sensations in British society.
Kate Fullagar argues that this lack of interest in Bennelong wasn't really about Bennelong; he had come to Britain after the American Revolution, after the British had decided there was no longer any question about whether imperialism and colonialism was a good idea; instead the dominant vibe was about how best to do imperialism and colonialism. So 'savage' visitors were no longer the exciting and vivid props to inform those debates about empire as they had previously been. After about a year in the UK, and having visited various cultural institutions (including an exhibition of artefacts brought back from Cook's voyages, including from Australia), Bennelong's younger Eora companion, Yammerawanne, passed away of a long illness. After ensuring that Yammerawanne was buried properly, Bennelong made his way back home, depressed at the loss of his friend.
Upon his return, Bennelong spent time wearing fine European clothes and conversing with the British; he was apparently hurt by some of the changes in kinship relations that had occurred in the almost three years he had been absent. He dictated a letter to Arthur Philip (who had accompanied Bennelong in England) soon after his return to Sydney:
Sir, I am very well. I hope you are very well. I live at the Governor's … I have not my wife; another black man took her away; we have had murry doings: he speared me in the back, but I better now. Not me go to England no more. I am at home now. I hope Sir you send me anything you please Sir. Hope all are well in England … Bannolong.
This is the first piece of writing attributed to an Indigenous Australian person, from 1796.
Bennelong's life after 1796 has been much mythologised in Australian historical writing, not so much based on the evidence as on ideological arguments; there were claims that he became a sort of twilight figure, not quite accepted in either British Sydney or in the Eora people. More recent historiography, however, suggests this is untrue, and that he became the powerful leader of a clan in living in the Parramatta region. What is clear that he became disillusioned with burdensome English clothing in the Sydney climate, and went back to his native style of dress - or lack thereof! The penises of Eora men were very much on display in public, and the Eora were initially quite confused about these pale skinned people and what sex they were. Bennelong seemingly reintegrated into Eora society, becoming useful as a diplomat, negotiating and translating; by all accounts he was a canny politician in this sense.
This caused much consternation in the British, who believed they had generously offered Bennelong a place at the civilised table, and were astonished and disheartened that he decided that he preferred Eora life. This is likely behind the cruel and mean-spirited obituary of Bennelong in the Sydney Gazette when he passed away in 1813. There is some suggestion that he passed away after becoming wounded in a frontier battle, and that this may be related to the reports of his alcoholism in the last years of his life (given some prominence in that obituary). Bennelong apparently died at the orchard of James Squire, a prominent brewer in the early colony…and another traveller between ethnicities and continents; Squire was English-born, but of Romani heritage.
Sources:
Smith, K. J. (2009). Bennelong amoong his people. Aboriginal History, 33, 7-30.
Fullagar, K. (2009). Bennelong in Britain. Aboriginal History, 33, 31-52.
Dortins, E. (2009). The many truths of Bennelong's tragedy. Aboriginal History, 33, 53-76.
mic’imtx ‘íinim mimiyóox̣at, ‘íin ‘iláatwisa kaa ‘íinim tim’íne wées k’óomaynin’ kaa ‘éetx̣ewnin’. kakoná híisemtuks hiwséetu wéet’u máwa héenek’e tuuqélenu’! (Here me, my chiefs, I am tired and my heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever!)
--hinmatóoyalahtqit, October 5, 1877
Etched forever on the hearts of his people and echoed for eons in the minds of his enemies, these words of nimíipuu tito’oqan hinmatóoyalahtqit, known to settlers and foreigners alike as Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce, were uttered into the world at the close of the War of 1877, popularly referred to by non-Natives as the Nez Perce War of 1877. Though Chief Joseph would become rather famous for his surrender speech at the Bear Paw Battlefield, located in modern day Montana, his life began not much earlier in a time of impending change for our people.
Born in 1840 in the Wallowa Valley, the traditional lands of his particular band of nimíipuu (Nez Perce), hinmatóoyalahtqit would eventually come to be known as “Joseph” after his father’s bequeathed Christian name, supposedly issued by the Presbyterian Reverend Henry H. Spalding, with each of them coming to be known as “Young” Joseph and “Old” Joseph respectively. Though Lewis and Clark with their Corps of Discovery had come and gone by this point, the arrival of settlers to the Wallowa Valley and the entirety of the traditional lands of nimíipuu was becoming increasingly regular with conflict brewing year after year. His father would pass away in 1871, leading to Young Joseph’s appointment as Chief of the Wallowa Band.
Though much of Chief Joseph’s early life was spent both at Henry Spalding’s mission and in the Wallowa Valley, he likely knew for some time that there would be a struggle over the lands he and his people called home. Under the authority of Isaac Stevens, the U.S. federal government negotiated a treaty with the Nez Perce in 1855 in which Old Joseph had been party to. While this treaty preserved the majority of the traditional lands of the Nez Perce, a later treaty council was formed and what has now become known among many Nez Perce today as the “Steal Treaty” was signed in 1863, drastically reducing the Nez Perce Reservation to only 10% of what it had previously been and excluding the lands of the Wallowa Band. The federal government was not only attempting to deprive the Nez Perce of their vast land holdings that were prime for settlement, but was also trying to force an agrarian modality onto the Nez Perce who had continued to subsist off the land through gathering, fishing, and hunting—a lifestyle held dearly by Chief Joseph, who had not taken to Christianity despite his time with Henry Spalding. Among many Tribes of the Plateau, a sort of religious movement had taken hold that was predicated on the traditional beliefs of the Indigenous communities in the area. Led by the religious icon Smohalla, an Indian sometimes referred to as a “preacher” or “prophet,” the Dreamer religion (also known as wáashat or Seven Drums) rebuked the farming lifestyle of the settlers, focusing on the need for Indians to maintain their connection to their traditional ways of living.
This movement undoubtedly had an impact on Chief Joseph. For many years, the Wallow Valley wasn’t protected from settler encroachment even though the Wallowa Band continued to persist there, until 1873 when an Executive Order was signed that reserved these lands. Chief Joseph had been instructed by his father to never sell the lands that held his father and mother’s bodies, a command that Chief Joseph would try to follow in the years to come.
By 1877, the Executive Order had been rescinded. Gold had been located on the Nez Perce Reservation. Settler encroachment was rapidly increasing. White homesteaders began murdering Nez Perce Indians on their own lands. Despite Chief Joseph’s desire to uphold his father’s will, he acquiesced in an attempt to prevent war and moved toward negotiations. But it was too late. The young warriors had begun conducting counterraids to avenge the deaths of innocent Nez Perces. The U.S. Army, under the direction of General Oliver Howard, had dispatched volunteers and regulars to quell the outbreak of violence, subdue any bands of resisting Nez Perce, and force Chief Joseph to Fort Lapwai on the reservation. By now it was clear that war was here. The Wallowa Band joined up with approximately half a dozen other bands of Nez Perce, collectively known as the non-treaty bands, and began a strategic retreat of over 1,500 miles in an attempt to meet up with our Crow allies.
Important to note is that during this time, Chief Joseph was not actually a war chief. Though his reputation as a strategist would proceed him following the war, other older and more experienced chiefs led the councils that decided where to go and who issued orders during combat. Even Chief Joseph’s younger brother, Ollokot, had a stronger reputation as a warrior and hunter than Joseph, garnering him the respect of the younger warriors. During the war, Chief Joseph’s responsibility was to protect the old men, women, and children in the camp (including his own newborns), though he often sat in on the councils. This is not to undermine the role that Chief Joseph played and would assume after the war.
Often noted for his tall stature, handsome appearance, eloquent speaking, and sagacious mentality, Chief Joseph is more accurately portrayed as a diplomat. It was always his intention to avoid the war that had fallen upon them, even at the cost of his father’s grave. And when the old men, chiefs, and young warriors who called the shots during the war had perished, Chief Joseph was among the remaining few that determined the fate of the non-treaty Nez Perce. It was at this time that he uttered his now famous surrender speech.
His story does not end there. Chief Joseph had surrendered his rifle to General Howard and Colonel Nelson Miles. After the war, he and many of the non-treaty Nez Perce bands were exiled to Indian Territory, present day Oklahoma. While promises were made to allow for their return in the near future, this did not come to fruition, leading to the deaths of many Nez Perces—including children—in the lands of what we called ‘iyeq’iispe, or “The Hot Place.” Chief Joseph again gained notoriety during this time as he traveled to Washington, D.C. to negotiate the return of his exiled people. In 1885, this happened. But not for hinmatóoyalahtqit.
Chief Joseph was never permitted to return to his homelands. He was shipped to the Colville Indian Reservation in north central Washington State where he, his family, and many of the Wallowa Band continued in exile. Even here, it was noted that Chief Joseph persisted with the Old Ways, showing no inclination to grow his own crops. He had made several more attempts in the following years since his arrival to the Colville Reservation to have his band returned to the Wallowa Valley, with every request being denied. Chief Joseph would pass and be buried in Nespelem, Washington in 1904 where it is said that he “died of a broken heart.”
Although this exile is no longer enforced, many of the descendants of Chief Joseph’s band continue to live in Nespelem today. Of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, the Nez Perce are recognized as one of the member Tribes. The legacy of Chief Joseph continues to this day and he is remembered as a man of peace, freedom, and friendship. He was a strong diplomat, a spirited leader, and an intelligent person. qe’ci’yew’yew, hinmatóoyalahtqit. yóx̣ kálo’ (Thank you, Thunder Rolling Over The Mountains. That is all).
Suggested Reading & Resources
The Nez Perce Indians and the Opening of the Northwest (1997) by Alvin M. Josephy, Jr.
Lewis and Clark Among the Nez Perce (2013) by Allen V. Pinkham & Steven R. Evans.
Drummers and Dreamers (1986) by Click Relander.
I'm sorry but I still can't take the word snoo seriously after watching Futurama. All joking aside, these are really cute, any snoos from the Caucasus or Central Asia?
Hannibal Barca snoo when?
This is such a cool and creative initiative. The Snoos are amazing quality!
I can't wait for Mansa Snoosa.
I'm obviously a big fan. These little folks look awesome.
How do you make those? I want an Egyptian one
These are neat. Has there been a Francisco De Miranda snoo?
I love them!
What the hell is a Snoo
