TCD MS 10516 folio 37 recto
[14th September 1916] and their frontal attack was being pressed boldly. But our men were very steady; they opened a heavy fire on them at every rush. Rifles raked them, shrapnel burst over them, machine guns mowed their ranks. But they came forward bravely determined to disorganise our rearguard in order to harass the main body with effect.
I stayed for a while in the nullah expecting to find some casualties, but here they were very few. It was interesting to note the different sounds made by the enemy’s bullets as they swept past and the different ways in which they affected one. I divided them into four classes. First, the “whistling bullets”; these sing through the air or twitter like a bird; I think they must pass high overhead; they provoke a sense of amusement, they make one smile; they seem so far away, so harmless that they amuse