The Thrilling Adventures of Five Female Spies
They lived double lives, and several of them eventually faced execution.
Everyone has seen suspenseful and intense spy movies that leave you wanting more. What most people tend to forget while they are watching such movies is that history is filled with actual spies. The following five female spies led dangerous and exciting double lives that, for some, ended with their eventual execution. These women deserve their stories to be told, so their bravery can be admired and their strength learned from.
Noor Inayat Khan was born on New Year's Day in 1914. She was an Indian princess of a special mixed heritage. Her parents were of two different races—her father being Indian and her mother American. In November of 1940, Khan joined WAAF, the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force. When Khan became a radio operator, her spy work began. She was sent into British-occupied France. In her early days, Khan had an intense fear of weapons. After long hours of combat training, she quickly overcame that fear. Following some problems her superiors questioned her ability to work in that field so they sent her to France under a different name, posing as a children’s nurse. After she was there for ten days, she was warned to come back because it was too dangerous. She refused. Khan never saw her family again. When she went to return home, she was captured by the Gestapo. In prison, Khan was tortured and beaten for information. She never gave in. In 1944, she was sent to a camp where she was eventually executed.
