We reached the track and began to walk along the rails towards the cutting where the train lay hidden, Mrs, Ramsay well in front and Mr. R. Rees and amah bringing up the rear, Suddenly I thought I heard a sound of planes from the south so called to the others, We scrambled down the bank and tried to get away from the railway line, but found ourselves confronted with a huge lotus pond—how deep we could not judge. The two in front managed to get over a small bridge and down to the paddy fields away from the railway. I saw Mr. Pinel's white shirt shining like a beacon and Mrs. Ramsay running hard.
We struggled along by the bank in search of a path. Six planes passed overhead and went towards Hankow. Still the nightmare of a pond refused to end, when to our horror we heard the six planes returning so purposefully that we were almost certain they were about to bomb the track or the station towards which we)were walking. We had only time to curl up among the long grass on the bank of the track and pray for the best when we saw the six planes over us and heard the sinister whistling of bombs. They must have released them right over our heads, but luckily they were travelling fast and the twenty-four bombs fell forward and struck the track about 300 yards ahead of us. Great mounds of earth and dust arose and when the deafening noise had subsided I lifted my dazed head. I remember saying in an odd sort of voice "Are you there?" No answer. I called again, heard a rustle and saw Mr. Rees' grave countenance and amah's grey face peering through the grass. It was a wonderful relief!
We hurriedly got up and tore along the track as fast as we could. Another 100 yards and the path appeared which we scrambled along as fast as we could towards the hay ricks. I could hear some planes returning when we were only just about halfway across, so we sank down in the corner of a field and tried to find cover in the bund grass.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.