An Unlikely Spy

A young Muslim woman, Noor was many things: a dutiful daughter, a musician, an artist, a poet fluent in several languages and a published writer. She became a vital part of the fight against Nazism, first as a wireless operator in the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF).

Noor was quiet and timid, and this meant people sometimes doubted her abilities. But she worked hard to gain the right skills to be a wireless operator behind enemy lines and held together the tattered remains of a Paris resistance group in some of the darkest hours of the Second World War. She did a highly dangerous job, usually alone, evading capture for months. She is still celebrated today in the city as