A Call to Spy: The Brave Women of Churchill’s SOE

One out of every three British SOE agents smuggled into France was killed by Germans or their Vichy collaborators. To reward them for their service, newly elected Labour PM Clement Atlee sacked the entire agency 48 hours after taking office. Women agents faired just about the same. 13 of Vera Atkins’ 39 “special recruits” never returned from occupied France either. Yet, their service and sacrifices were quite remarkable. The true stories of Atkins and her two most celebrated agents, Virginia Hall and Noor Inayat Khan are told in Lydia Dean Pilcher’s A Call to Spy, which opens today in select theaters and on VOD.

Clandestine warfare was going badly for Britain, like everything else during the early stages of WWII. It was the job of Col. Maurice Buckmaster and his civilian colleague, Vera Atkins, to change that. They were in charge of training and strategy for the Special Operations Executive (SOE). Despite Atkins’ protests, they initially only recruited men, but their hidebound superiors relented as SOE casualties mounted. As a Romanian immigrant of Jewish descent, the war was particularly personal for Atkins, but it also made her a figure of suspicion for many of her less enlightened colleagues.

Hall and Khan had one advantage. Neither of them fit the profile of a likely spy. Hall was an American, who relied on a prosthetic leg. Khan was born in Russia to an Indian Muslim father, who was revered teacher of Sufism (which actually meant they were quite moderate and tolerant). Hall proved to be a gifted organizer, who built an extensive network throughout Vichy, whereas Khan had what was considered the most dangerous assignment in France. She was one of several “wireless” operators, who were constantly tracked and triangulated by the Gestapo—and also rather conspicuous, since they were tethered to their bulky radios.

If Noor Khan sounds familiar, perhaps you saw the PBS profile, An Enemy of the Reich, which aired six years ago. She was definitely a heroic woman, but there is more to Hall’s exploits, for unfortunate reasons you should be able to guess. In fact, it is truly criminal Hall is not widely celebrated in our history books. After the SOE extracted her from France, she returned with the American OSS and then served with Central Intelligence during the Cold War—so remember her service next time a Hollywood film denigrates the CIA.

Enemy of the Reich—Noor Inayat Khan

Noor Inayat Khan is a prime example why many consider Sufism the best hope for moderation in the increasingly radicalized Islamic world. Inspired by the values of her father, Hazrat Inayat Khan, an internationally respected Sufi teacher, Inayat Khan volunteered for the most dangerous duty possible with Britain’s clandestine service, the Special Operations Executive (SOE). Her short but heroic career is chronicled in Enemy of the Reich: the Noor Inayat Khan Story (promo here), which premieres this Tuesday on PBS.

The average survival rate for SOE radio operators was a mere six weeks. The recruiters and organizers who dealt directly with partisans also faced considerable dangers, but it was always simply a matter of time before the feared German radio trucks eventually traced those who relayed and received communications with London. Inayat Khan would beat the averages, but she was nearly swept up in a massive Gestapo operation days after her arrival in France.

Of course, Inayat Khan had certain advantages for cloak and dagger work. Reportedly, the National Socialists were a bit slow on the uptake when it came to female agents. Evidently, they completely forgot Mata Hari. The fact that Inayat Khan was the Muslim daughter of Indian and American parents (born in Moscow) might have also been somewhat reassuring, considering the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and Indian nationalist Subhas Chandra Bose publicly sided with the National Socialists.

In contrast, Inayat Khan was a genuine idealist (and children’s book author), who was almost too principled to convince the SOE gatekeepers to send her into the field. Unfortunately, the inescapably inevitable ending will come as no surprise, especially for anyone familiar with the grim realities of resistance work.

However, director Robert H. Gardner and writer Carrie Gardner provide an intriguing look inside the SOE’s training, deployment, and service. Their combination of talking heads, archival images, and dramatic re-enactments does not exactly break new docu-ground, but Grace Srinivasan’s striking presence should be noted. Although she does not have much dialogue or even much traditional dramatic work, she still conveys Inayat Khan’s vulnerability and resoluteness quite directly.

Enemy is a nicely assembled package, notably featuring the always classy Dame Helen Mirren as its narrator. Altogether, it is another informative hour-long PBS WWII special that maybe does not quite reach the level of the better theatrical feature documentaries, but never outstays its welcome. Recommended for viewers interested in WWII and Sufism, Enemy of the Reich: the Noor Inayat Khan Story airs this coming Tuesday (9/9) on PBS outlets nationwide.