John McCrae

Posted by Florence Cardinal Jan 25, 2007

John McCrae took part in the heavy fighting in and around Ypres. This is the area often called Flanders. Surrounded by the dead and dying day and night, he was devastated by the carnage he saw.

The dead were buried in hurriedly dug graves marked by simple wooden crosses. Between the crosses, the poppies were beginning to bloom. It was because of this scene that he wrote his famous poem.

Later he was transferred to the Canadian General Hospital in France. In January 1918, John McCrae died of pneumonia.