We ought to have walked in careless of fire

TCD MS 10516 folio 36 recto

TCD MS 10516 folio 36 recto

[14th September 1916] slowly shifted it over some 40 yards of ground without much exposure. But the effort was very laborious; we were tired out by it. Only about 40 yards now separated us from grassy mound, so I thought it better to make an honest dash for it. Rhandhoj Rai took one end of the stretcher, I, the other. We reached the mound in three short rushes, lowering the wounded man and burying our noses in the sand whenever the bullets came too thick about us. It seemed ignominious; of course we ought to have walked in careless of fire, but the preserving instinct of human nature was too strong; the same instinct that makes a man flinch when he finds a fist in his face, impels him to seek cover from the hiss of many bullets. However after three short rushes and three undignified concealments we reached in safety the grateful shel-