TCD MS 10516 folio 37 verso
[14th September 1916] rather than alarm. Secondly come the “hissing bullets”; they rush through the air like steam escaping from a jet; I think they must come very close; they give the impression that they were shaving the hair off one’s head. They certainly cause no amusement; the sense of danger is instantly roused; when a hissing bullet rushes past, down goes every head; the inclination is to bury one’s nose in the dust. Thirdly come the “humming bullets”; these, I fancy, are ricochets, not spinning true on their long axis but twisting in every direction, moving at a lower velocity, throwing the air into a coarser and more irregular vibration and thus causing a note of a lower and varying pitch. They are not alarming; they make one wonder in what direction the bullet is being deflected and induce one to look up as though one could see the /