UK pilot recreates World War-era flight of British-Indian spy!

A female pilot from the UK has used her scholarship towards a special flying mission to recreate the deadly mission behind enemy lies undertaken by British-Indian spy Noor Inayat Khan during the World War II.

Fiona Smith, who won the British Women's Pilot's Association(BWPA) scholarship in 2021 inviting an aviation enthusiast to carry out a "special mission"  decided to link this to the Special Operations Executive(SOE).

Noor Inayat Khan, a desendant of the 18th century Mysore ruler Tipu Sultan, was an SOE agent who had been air-dropped to a field in Nazi-occupied France to carry out covert intelligence.

My mission was clear- to fly from the south of England to Angers, lay a wreath for Noor, and fly back. As it happened, our actual flight has coincided with the 80th year of leaving England" said Smith.

Noor Inayat Khan was born in 1914 in Moscow to an American poet mother and an Indian Sufi teacher father. She was flown to France in a Lysander aircraft from a Royal Air Force(RAF) base to a field near Angers in June 194.

It is beautiful to learn of Fionas's tribute flight for Noor Inayat Khan. "Noor's story and sacrifice continues to inspire in so many ways" said Shrabani Basu, the author of 'Spy Princess:The Life Of Noor Inayat Khan'.