“When Armageddon came in 1914 Manchester’s victories in war were no less renowned than her victories in peace. The young men of Manchester and Salford, when the call came, proved themselves worthy of the highest traditions of their race. To no more acid test could they have been subjected. They passed through it gloriously.

“Voluntary recruiting both for the army and the navy in the early days was splendid and won the special encomiums of the Prime Minister.

“The days of training were quickly followed by the supreme test of active service. The Manchesters, the local public school battalions, and the Lancashire Fusiliers won deathless fame on many glorious fields. In the discharge of their duties they paid heavy toll. Thousands sleep in foreign soil, and very deep they sleep. Those who came back were modestly conscious that they had done their duty. They made no higher claim than that. There is no higher claim. May the nation prove ready to do its duty by them. And may the call which was made upon them never be made again on any nation.”