Poet with a parachute

HannaH SeneSH (originally Szenes) was a paratrooper trained by the British to rescue Jews during the Holocaust. Captured, tortured and killed by the nazis, she is a national heroine in Israel.

Senesh was born in Budapest on July 17, 1921. Increasing anti-Semitic sentiment saw her embrace the Zionist cause.

Following her graduation in 1939, she decided to emigrate to what was then the British Mandate of Palestine to study in the Girls’ agricultural School

In 1941, while working at a kibbutz, she began to write poetry, including her most famous work a Walk To Caesarea (later set to music by David Zehavi): My God, my God, May it never end — The sand and the sea, The rustle of the water, The brilliance of the sky, The prayer of man.

She was recruited into the Haganah, the paramilitary group that was the forerunner of the Israel Defence Forces. In 1943, she enlisted in the British army in the Women’s auxiliary air Force and began training in egypt as a paratrooper for the British Special Operations executive (SOe).

after training in egypt, she was one of 33 special operatives to parachute behind enemy lines. Senesh went to Yugoslavia in March 1944, and spent three months fighting with Tito’s partisans.

Her commitment to her cause was memorialised in a poem she wrote at the time called Blessed Is The Match: Blessed is the match, consumed in

kindling flame. Blessed is the flame that burns in the

heart’s secret places. Blessed is the heart that knows, for

honour’s sake, to stop its beating. Blessed is the match, consumed in

kindling flame. On June 7, 1944, Senesh was captured Heroine: Paratrooper Hannah Senesh crossing the border with Hungary. Sent to a Budapest prison, she was repeatedly interrogated and tortured.

She refused to provide the code for her SOe radio transmitter, even when her mother was arrested.

Senesh was executed by a firing squad on november 7 — she refused to wear a blindfold. The following poem was found in her cell after the execution: One — two — three . . . eight feet long Two strides across, the rest is dark . . . Life is a fleeting question mark One — two — three . . . maybe another

week. Or the next month may still find me

here, But death, I feel is very near. I could have been 23 next July I gambled on what mattered most, The dice were cast. I lost. In 1950, Senesh’s remains were reinterred at the military cemetery on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem. Adrienne Hewitt, Malvern, Worcs.

QUESTION How do the Japanese eradicate Japanese knotweed?

JaPaneSe knotweed ( Fallopia

japonica) was introduced into europe in the mid- 19th century by Philipp Franz Balthasar von Siebold, a German botanist and physician.

In 1850, he sent a specimen of the plant to Kew Gardens and in 1854, it was growing in the Royal Botanical Gardens in edinburgh. He also introduced Japanese knotweed to north america.

Today, it is one of europe’s most aggressive weeds, easily outgrowing native herbaceous plants — it can grow 10in in a week. In Japan, its resilience and invasive nature is illustrated by the fact it is one of the first plants to colonise scree and lava fields lining the slopes of Japan’s active volcanoes.

However, in this harsh environment, poor soil and the repeated coverings of volcanic ash and landslides serve to limit its growth. It is further kept in check by being in direct competition with other vigorous giant plants such as miscanthus, known as elephant grass, and bamboo.

It has evolved alongside a host of natural pests, such as the plant louse,

Aphalara itadori. Soil fungi and plant diseases also attack all parts of the knotweed plant in Japan.

However, in urban areas in the country, knotweed can be a problem, requiring chemical control and digging up, but not to the degree that it is europe.

Outside its native habitat, lacking predators, competition and suppression by volcanic ash, Japanese knotweed is able to sink all its energy into its hardy underground rhizome, allowing it to survive over winter and to defend itself against herbicides.

The rhizome is then able to pour more energy back into the prolific growth of the plant. Marcus Ellory, Harrow, Middx.

QUESTION What was the story of Lady Isobel Barnett, a panellist on the Fifties TV panel show What’s My Line?

THe earlier answer described the colourful life and sad suicide of Lady Isobel Barnett. However, it did not cover the real problem of her kleptomania and its repercussions.

all the shopkeepers near her home in Cossington, Leicestershire, were aware of her problem and noted the items she hid inside her poacher’s pockets — bags sewn into the lining of her coat.

They would make out an invoice for the pilfered goods and send it to her home. These accounts were settled promptly and were always accompanied by a 10 per cent addition without explanation.

This system worked satisfactorily until one of the shops changed hands.

Being unaware of the local ritual, the new shopkeeper contacted the police when Isobel was spotted shoplifting. a carton of cream and tin of tuna were found in her coat’s hidden pockets.

This led to her conviction for theft and subsequent suicide.

John Fletcher, Glasgow.