rather disorderly until the deputy section leader sorts them out. Quite soon I begin to admire this Ovadia Treblov from Be’er Tuvia. He is very calm, rearranging the platoon. Someone asks him if it is OK to leave some things behind. This earns him just a cutting look, then the answer: "You can throw away all your clothes. But you dare leave behind a single cartridge!!"
Ovadia suggests that we should withdraw together with him. But Nachman decides to stay. After a while the platoon withdraws. This is where the qualities of the commander become clear: he doesn’t withdraw along the road, but around the hill in front of us. That is a safer route. But still, one of his people is wounded by shrapnel in the open field. After treatment he is carried by his comrades.
Other wounded are brought to the rear, and lie next to the road. The enemy notices the movement and concentrates his fire. There is no alternative. That is the shortest route, and the lives of the wounded depend on the speed in getting them to a place where they can be treated.
Now and then a group appears carrying one of the wounded. The shells land near them. I can see that some of the bearers are also wounded. Later we hear about a tragic incident: Abraham Bendarski, our medical orderly, a well-known football player, was carrying a dying soldier on his back. He hears an incoming shell, lays the wounded man on the ground and throws himself down next to him. The explosion flings Abraham several meters, but he is not hurt. When he goes back to the wounded man, he is not there.
The fire on the road is murderous. Asriel Spitz, my platoon leader, who had ended up in another place, wanted to salvage three vehicles. The enemy observed what was happening and concentrated its fire on that area. Asriel jumped out of the vehicle. A moment later it received a direct hit.
One after another our units withdraw. In the end we are the only ones left. Two machine guns and five infantry with rifles. Nachman is in command of the heavy weapons. A company commander I don’t know is in command of the second machine gun, which belongs to another unit. I lie next to it and try my hand as a sniper.
From this position I can now see the enemy quite clearly. A tank is standing next to the monastery of Latrun. Hundreds of Arabs are coming toward us through the wheat fields. They are still about eight