Date: May 13th
Category: Hidden Histories | Resistance & Espionage | WWII
War has its soldiers, its generals, and its heroes. But some of the greatest acts of resistance happen in silk stockings, second-hand coats, and under aliases.
Today, The Time Traveller’s Guild steps into the shadowy world of wartime espionage — where women played a vital role in resisting fascism across Europe, often at unspeakable personal cost. These were spies, saboteurs, radio operators, and couriers. Their weapons? A lipstick tube filled with microfilm. A coded message hidden in knitting. A seemingly innocent bicycle.
And among the bravest were two women with code names etched in history:
Violette Szabo and Noor Inayat Khan.
🟣 Code Name: Violette
Violette Szabo was a British-French secret agent with the Special Operations Executive (SOE). Born in Paris and raised in London, she was widowed at 22 — and joined the SOE not long after, fuelled by grief and a burning desire to fight back.
Trained in sabotage, hand-to-hand combat, and coded transmissions, she parachuted into occupied France in 1944. Captured after a fierce gun battle near Limoges, she was imprisoned, tortured, and eventually executed at RavensbrĂĽck concentration camp.
💬 “She was young, she was beautiful, she was brave.” – SOE training officer
Her story inspired the 1958 film Carve Her Name with Pride and countless street names, plaques, and memorials across Britain and France.
🌙 Code Name: Madeleine
Noor Inayat Khan, born to an Indian Sufi mystic father and American mother, was a pacifist by upbringing — and a children’s author by profession. Yet she became one of the first female radio operators dropped into occupied France.
Using the codename “Madeleine”, she transmitted vital intelligence back to London, working completely alone for over two months — longer than any other SOE radio operator in France. Despite being betrayed and captured, she never gave up a single name. Even under torture.
Her final words, before execution at Dachau:
“Liberté.”
🕰️ Why They Matter Now
These women:
- Operated behind enemy lines, often with little support
- Challenged the era’s assumptions about gender and bravery
- Were denied full honours for decades after the war ended
- Inspired generations of women to believe in the power of quiet defiance
🧵 Resistance doesn’t always look like a fight. Sometimes it looks like staying silent when it matters most.
🏛️ Where to Remember Them
- 📍 The Violette Szabo Museum, Herefordshire, UK – In her cousin’s home, filled with personal artefacts
- 📍 Valençay SOE Memorial, France – Commemorating all F Section agents, including both women
- 📍 Noor Inayat Khan Statue, Gordon Square, London – The first woman of South Asian descent honoured with a statue in the UK
- 📍 Ravensbrück Memorial, Germany – A site of remembrance for female resistance fighters across Europe
🛍️ From the Shadows: Guild Merch Drop
Celebrate their legacy with the “Code Name Violet” collection:
- Replica SOE-style field notebooks
- “Silence is Strength” designs
đź›’ Shop the Collection
đź“š Want to Know More?
- A Life in Secrets by Sarah Helm – Noor Inayat Khan’s complete biography
- Carve Her Name with Pride by R.J. Minney – Violette Szabo’s story
- Women in Intelligence: The Hidden History of Two World Wars by Helen Fry
- Imperial War Museum: SOE Female Agents
đź’¬ Join the Guild Chat: #CodeNameCourage
Tag your art, photos, or stories honouring resistance women — or your modern take on espionage fashion — with #CodeNameCourage and @TimeTravellersGuild. We’ll spotlight our favourites in our May 31 roundup.
