John McRae was born in Canada on Nov. 30, 1872. He graduated from college and became a doctor. He served in the Second Boer War. In 1904, he became a member of the Royal College of Physicians. He specialized in pathology. When Canada entered WWI, he volunteered, even though he was 41-years-old. “I am really rather afraid, but more afraid to stay at home with my conscience.” He was assigned to an artillery unit. He considered himself a soldier first, medical officer second. He ended up a Lieutenant Colonel. He participated in the Second Battle of Ypres. He and his mates went 17 days without changing clothes. When his friend Lt. Alexis Helmer died, he was inspired to write a poem to honor all the dead. Legend had him composing it on the back of an ambulance on May 3, 1915. He had loved poetry since he was a child and had published poems in the 1890’s. He didn’t like this poem at first and crumpled it up and threw it on the ground. A soldier retrieved it and he was convinced to have it published. The film focuses on the poppy flower which was associated with the Western Front and its cemeteries. “In Flanders Fields” was an immediate hit because it memorialized the soldiers in a patriotic way. It was used by Great Britain, Canada, and the U.S. for recruiting. It became probably the most popular poem from a war that created some of the best war poetry in history. McRae died of pneumonia at the front in 1918.
In Flanders Fields
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.
Below is very interesting video featuring three famous WWI poems, including “In Flanders Fields”.
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