The tired air groans as the heavies swing over. The river hollows boom. The shell fountains leap from the swamps and with wildfire and fume. The shoulder of the chalkdown convulses.

Then the jabbering echoes stampede in the slatting wood. Ember black, the gibbet trees like bones or thorns

protrude from the poisonous smoke past all impulses. To them, these silvery dews can never again be dear, nor the blue javelin flame

of the thunderous noons strike fear.

Edmund Blondon, Teetfall Wood, the Psalm, 1916.

Hey folks, welcome to the Battles of the First World War podcast episode 26, Psalm, A Tale of Two Vowls, Part 2, Teepval.

So, real quick, this episode is for all of you listeners out there, as is every episode.

But it is especially for listener Vince.

Thank you for persisting in getting a review posted in iTunes.

In the true spirit of the BFWP,

Vince conducted several assaults on the iTunes review pages until he succeeded in breaking through

and posting his thoughts.

Thank you, sir.

And thank you to everyone who has recently posted reviews and made

starred reviews on iTunes. It really makes a difference. And if you haven't done so yet, I'm told

it's even easier to rate podcasts you have subscribed to through the new iOS 11 operating system,

for those of you with iPhones.

Also, very hearty thanks to listener Diane for becoming a patron on Patreon.

Thank you so much for offering your ongoing support. If you would like to join

Diane and the other patrons on Patreon and support the podcast with a continuing contribution of

your choice, please check us out at patreon.com slash battles of the first world war podcast.

Patrons there receive early access to all new episodes, transcripts of each episode released,

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