1904: A Day of Remembrance.

Another year to have passed.. Another day of Remembrance we as a nation unite to honour and remember the courageousness and bravery of those whom answered the call.

The prospect of what was to come and the premise that the war would conclude by the Christmas of nineteen fourteen, it became an adventure for millions, yet, the sheer horrors of war would soon consume the world twice over. Many of those fine men who were fortunate to make it home to their loved ones will undoubtedly tell that the true heroes are those who did not make it home.

For Hull City AFC, the outbreak of war in the year nineteen hundred and fourteen would see such personnel as James Cleland, James McIntosh, Billy Mercer, James Middlehurst and Douglas Morgan answer the call to arms, the later of whom would pay the ultimate price in the defence of freedom.

Four years were to pass, countless lives and resources wasted before the horrors of the First World War would ultimately conclude.

The World would return to War little over twenty year's after the Great War's end, a War more fierce than anyone could have imagined. A war that would thrust millions more brave souls into battle to rid the world of tyranny and oppression.

In remembrance of the millions whom went unto the breach and sacrificed all for a brighter tomorrow, your today will never be forgotten nor will your courage and bravery, We will forever be indebted unto you all and we will remember you.

I leave you to reflect on the thoughts from a veteran of war, words echoing through the ages..

"Let me take you back 75 years ..

We are the warriors of the greatest generation, the generation that has taken their final curtain call and soon will be leaving this stage of life. Look at these old warriors gathered here today, they're yesterday's heroes .. we were soldier's once, and young .. the vibrant youth of their time .. men who were here on this terrible battlefield 75 years ago.

In combat we would find the closest brotherhood we would ever know, we found selflessness, we found we could love the other guy in the foxhole more than ourselves, we found that in war men who loved life would get their lives forever.

The war may have ended 74 years ago, but for us and the families of those who died in that conflict, it will never end. Not a man among us would want to go through it again .. our only regret is that our friends and comrades would never return. We come to remember and honour the 400,000 American soldiers who died in World War II. We Remember and Honour the thousands of soldiers, sailors and vetrans hospitalised across their nation, their minds and bodies destroyed by the horrors of war.

What we did .. What we experienced, represents the love of our country .. the love of our religious faiths .. the love of our fellow citizens and our love of freedom. We saw what a lack of love and a lack of freedom can do. We saw the concentration camps .. We saw the slave labour camps .. We saw the prisoner of war camps .. We saw the vile inhumanity of man against man. Tears still well on my eyes, remembering all the friends I left on the field of battle .. Towns and Cities of Europe.

"Were you a hero in the war Poppy?" My Grandchildren sometimes asked.

No .. but i was in a company of heroes.

From where, oh God, came such men as these?

The warriors of the greatest generation .. this generation has taken their final curtain call and soon we all will have left.

The battle smoke has fled .. now only memories and the dead.

Thankyou and may God Bless you."