Bio of Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae
Author of the IN FLANDERS FIELDS Poem

Canadian physician, soldier, teacher and poet John McCrae was born in Guelph Ontario on November 30, 1872, the second son of Lieutenant Colonel David McCrae and Janet Simpson Eckford McCrae.

After graduating with honours from Medical School in Toronto in 1898, John McCrae served in the artillery during the second Boar War in South Africa from 1899 – 1902.

Upon his return McCrae completed his studies in Pathology at McGill University in Montreal.

He then became an associate of medicine at Royal Victoria Hospital in 1904 while serving as Resident House Officer at Toronto General Hospital. He went on to teach at McGill University and was appointed professor of pathology at the University of Vermont, a position he held until 1911.

As an author, John McCrae wrote numerous articles for medical journals, co-authored  “A Text-Book of Pathology for Students of Medicine” with J.G. Adami and published a number of poems, letters, articles and short stories for national magazines including Saturday Night and Godey’s plus the University of Toronto student newspaper, the Varsity. 

In 1914 at the start of the First World War, McCrae followed his sense of duty to God, his country and his fellow man and enlisted. In 1915 he was given the rank of Major and appointed brigade-surgeon to the First Brigade of the Canadian Forces Artillery stationed at Ypres, Belgium.

The second major battle at Ypres, Belgium began on April 22, 1915 where the Germans first used poison Chlorine gas. During “17 days of Hades” as McCrae described it, he and his medical staff treated nearly 4600 wounded men.

While still at the battlefront during the second battle of Ypres, McCrae performed a burial service for his good friend and former student Alexis Helmer. The next day on May 3, 1915 McCrae reportedly sat at the back of an ambulance wagon and composed what is now considered to be the world’s most famous and recognized war memorial poem, “In Flanders Fields”.

In Flanders Fields poem was first published anonymously in the December 8th 1915 issue of the British PUNCH magazine and is credited with the inspiration for adopting the “poppy” as Canada’s official Flower of Remembrance, which is also recognized in Canada, the U.S., France, Britain and other Commonwealth countries including Australia and New Zealand.

Shortly after its publication, In Flanders Fields poem became the most popular English poem of the First World War. It was translated into many languages and used in countless fund-raising campaigns for the war effort.

On April 17th, 1915 John McCrae earned the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He left the battlefront and transferred to Number 3 General Hospital at Boulogne on June 1st where he treated wounded soldiers from the battles of Somme, Vimy Ridge, Arras, Passchendaele and the third battle of Ypres.

On January 5, 1918 McCrae became the first Canadian ever to be appointed as Consultant Physician to the British Armies in the Field. Unfortunately, McCrae died before he could he could take up his new position.

McCrae suffered from asthma since childhood and by December of 1917 his health had dramatically declined.

John McCrae succumbed to pneumonia and meningitis on January 28th, 1918 at Number 14 British General Hospital for Officers in Boulogne, France. His funeral procession was led by his horse Bonfire and in the tradition of mounted officers; McCrae’s boots were placed backwards in the stirrups. 

Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae M.D. was buried with full military honours in the cemetery in Wimereux, France (plot 4, row H, grave 3). In attendance were his many friends, military dignitaries, nursing sisters and colleagues.

Following his death in 1918 the book “In Flanders Fields and Other Poems” was published. McCrae House, the home where he was born in Guelph, Ontario, is now a museum and includes a garden of remembrance with a memorial cenotaph.