IN FLANDERS FIELDS POEM
The World’s Most Famous WAR MEMORIAL POEM
By Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae
Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place: and in the sky
The larks still bravely singing fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the dead: Short days ago,
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved: and now we lie
In Flanders fields!
Take up our quarrel with the foe
To you, from failing hands, we throw
The torch: be yours to hold it high
If ye break faith with us who die,
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields
Composed at the battlefront on May 3, 1915
during the second battle of Ypres, Belgium
Canadian physician, soldier, teacher and poet John McCrae was born in Guelph Ontario on November 30, 1872, the second son of Scottish immigrants Lieutenant Colonel David McCrae and Janet Simpson Eckford McCrae.
John McCrae succumbed 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 MD was buried with full military honors in the cemetery in Wimereux, France (plot 4, row H, grave 3). John McCrae’s funeral was one of the best attended funerals of the entire war. In attendance were his many friends, military dignitaries, nursing sisters and colleagues.
