A woman who was 16 on Bloody Sunday described today how she thought she would die as a bullet fired from the walls of Derry skimmed the ground beside her.
Mrs Mary Deirdre Brown said she ran from paratroopers advancing into the area and arrived in a street east of Free Derry Corner when someone shouted: "Jesus, there's shooting from the walls."
People dropped to the ground, lying three abreast on the pavement, trying to get in as close to the houses as they could, she said.
"I was keeping my head down for safety and so did not see any soldiers; however, I could hear the cracking sound of shots from the area of the walls above my head.
"Because I was lying facing towards the walls I was afraid I would be shot in the head. Behind me I could hear a number of men saying the Rosary and I could also hear men crying and saying: 'They are going to kill us'."
She lifted her head momentarily only to be told to put it back down by one of the adults, Mrs Brown said.
"As I turned my head back I heard a whoosh and at the same time, I saw the mark of a bullet skip along the road, causing a white friction mark on its surface. It was very close to me, level with my head, and could only have been fired from directly above me on the walls.
"Whilst I was lying on the ground, the cracking of bullets was continuous. All the bullets sounded as if they were coming from overhead, on the walls."
PA