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In memory of Noor Inayat Khan, the first female wireless operator sent into occupied France by the SOE, who was executed on 13th September 1944. Dubbed the ‘spy princess’ because she was descended from Indian royalty, Noor sometimes referred to herself as plain Nora Baker by taking her American mother’s maiden name. In June 1940, after France’s occupation and surrender, Noor and her family fled to London where she subsequently joined the WAAF. Soon recruited by the SOE’s ‘F’ or French section...

Who were those who put their lives on hold during wartime? Of course, not just men. Whilst some Russian women actively fought in combat during WW2, Churchill and Selwyn Jepson realised women were a weapon of sorts arguing that suspicion wouldn’t immediately fall upon those whose nature it was to nurture. This unleashed a new force—ordinary yet extraordinary, a force capable of espionage, subterfuge and ‘setting Europe ablaze.’ Yes, Churchill’s ‘Angels,’ were far from angelic, often seen...

July 1918 saw the demise of three of the highest scoring aces of the First World War. All had Irish connections, all flew Se5as, and all except one, were shot down for breaking one of the golden rules of aerial combat: never follow the enemy down to within range of Archie fire.

At the beginning of July 1918, James McCudden, who was the third of six children to an Irish father, was already highly decorated having recently received the Victoria Cross. On the 9th July 1918, and with an...

 Watch this space — the words are gathering.