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Authors: Shrabani Basu
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would have to leave at once since the roads would be thronging with other people getting out of the city.
Noor ran to her friends and neighbours around Fazal Manzil and said goodbye. She asked them to look after the house and remove and keep anything of value that they found there. On 5 June 1940 they packed a few essentials, took one last look at the house that had been their home for nearly twenty years and began their long journey. The family of Inayat Khan was on the move again. Noor hugged her mother and held on to her. She was fighting back her own tears.
THREE
Flight and Fight
A s Noor and her family left Paris on 5 June they found that masses of other people were also fleeing the advancing Germans. The streets were thronged with people, all on the move – with whatever possessions they could take with them and on any form of transport they could get. Cars, vans, trucks, cycles, push carts crawled slowly down the road as entire families scrambled to get out of Paris. The crying children, the anxious parents, the terrified expressions on the faces of the elderly told their own story. Noor held on to her mother. Vilayat drove in tense silence.
More than two-thirds of the whole population of Paris went on the road to escape the city before the Germans arrived. The city’s population of three million had dwindled to 800,000 by the time the enemy reached Paris: in affluent areas only a quarter of the population remained behind. 1 In poorer areas about a half stayed back. By June 1940, between six and ten million people in France are said to have left their homes.
The countryside outside Paris was beautiful with flowers in the hedges and summer in the air. But the convoy of vehicles crawling out of the city presented a stark contrast with the natural beauty of the surroundings. All along the road there were abandoned cars which had run out of petrol or broken down. It led to more traffic jams and pile-ups. Rich, poor, old, young – every type and class of person seemed to be on the road. The full impact of the war had suddenly hit the civilians of France. But worse was to come.
The roar of German Stuka bomber planes sent the refugees diving for cover. The low-flying planes dropped bombs indiscriminately over the convoy. Within minutes cars were ablaze and the green country roads smelt of burnt flesh and tyres instead of fragrant hedgerows. The sound of the planes would fade and then almost immediately it would return as the German bombers came to finish off what they had left undone. Vilayat swore he would join the RAF. Noor was devastated by this bombing of innocents. What sort of regime would bomb refugees, women and children? she wondered. It strengthened her resolve to fight such a force.
After a harrowing day on the road, the family reached Tours at nightfall. Here they found shelter in an outhouse near the station, along with many other families. The next morning the family said goodbye to Hidayat and his family, and their uncles, and went to the station. They planned to catch the train to Bordeaux from where they could get a boat to England.
When the train arrived it was already packed and the four of them struggled to get on it. When it reached Bordeaux, however, the station staff refused to let the passengers alight, saying the town was full and there was no room for any more refugees. Sheer panic followed as frantic passengers fell on the door trying to get out. But the doors were slammed on them and the train began to move. Finally at Le Verdon, 50 miles from Bordeaux, the train stopped and the passengers were allowed to get out. The little town was already heaving with people and the family made their way to the town hall. The British government was evacuating its citizens and Vilayat (who was born in London) asked if his family could get a place on the boat going to England. They were given permission, but told that the queue was long and they would have to wait a few days. The family rented a room to
Noor ran to her friends and neighbours around Fazal Manzil and said goodbye. She asked them to look after the house and remove and keep anything of value that they found there. On 5 June 1940 they packed a few essentials, took one last look at the house that had been their home for nearly twenty years and began their long journey. The family of Inayat Khan was on the move again. Noor hugged her mother and held on to her. She was fighting back her own tears.
THREE
Flight and Fight
A s Noor and her family left Paris on 5 June they found that masses of other people were also fleeing the advancing Germans. The streets were thronged with people, all on the move – with whatever possessions they could take with them and on any form of transport they could get. Cars, vans, trucks, cycles, push carts crawled slowly down the road as entire families scrambled to get out of Paris. The crying children, the anxious parents, the terrified expressions on the faces of the elderly told their own story. Noor held on to her mother. Vilayat drove in tense silence.
More than two-thirds of the whole population of Paris went on the road to escape the city before the Germans arrived. The city’s population of three million had dwindled to 800,000 by the time the enemy reached Paris: in affluent areas only a quarter of the population remained behind. 1 In poorer areas about a half stayed back. By June 1940, between six and ten million people in France are said to have left their homes.
The countryside outside Paris was beautiful with flowers in the hedges and summer in the air. But the convoy of vehicles crawling out of the city presented a stark contrast with the natural beauty of the surroundings. All along the road there were abandoned cars which had run out of petrol or broken down. It led to more traffic jams and pile-ups. Rich, poor, old, young – every type and class of person seemed to be on the road. The full impact of the war had suddenly hit the civilians of France. But worse was to come.
The roar of German Stuka bomber planes sent the refugees diving for cover. The low-flying planes dropped bombs indiscriminately over the convoy. Within minutes cars were ablaze and the green country roads smelt of burnt flesh and tyres instead of fragrant hedgerows. The sound of the planes would fade and then almost immediately it would return as the German bombers came to finish off what they had left undone. Vilayat swore he would join the RAF. Noor was devastated by this bombing of innocents. What sort of regime would bomb refugees, women and children? she wondered. It strengthened her resolve to fight such a force.
After a harrowing day on the road, the family reached Tours at nightfall. Here they found shelter in an outhouse near the station, along with many other families. The next morning the family said goodbye to Hidayat and his family, and their uncles, and went to the station. They planned to catch the train to Bordeaux from where they could get a boat to England.
When the train arrived it was already packed and the four of them struggled to get on it. When it reached Bordeaux, however, the station staff refused to let the passengers alight, saying the town was full and there was no room for any more refugees. Sheer panic followed as frantic passengers fell on the door trying to get out. But the doors were slammed on them and the train began to move. Finally at Le Verdon, 50 miles from Bordeaux, the train stopped and the passengers were allowed to get out. The little town was already heaving with people and the family made their way to the town hall. The British government was evacuating its citizens and Vilayat (who was born in London) asked if his family could get a place on the boat going to England. They were given permission, but told that the queue was long and they would have to wait a few days. The family rented a room to
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