Click

John McCrae A Biography

Click
John McCrae was born on November 30th, 1872 in Guelph Ontario.
Click
He was the second son of Lieutenant David McCrae and Janet Simpson Eckford, so he
was born into the military.
Click
He joined the Hatfield Cadet Corps when turned 14.
Click
He graduated from Guelph Collegiate Institute at an age of 16, and became the first
student to win a scholarship from here to the University of Toronto. He first started
writing poetry in the Guelph Collegiate Institute.
Click
At 17 he enlisted in the Militia field battery that was commanded by his father.
Click
After graduating UofT with a bachelor’s Art degree attended UofT Medical School.
Click
During university, John had published 16 poems and short stories in different magazines.
Click
During this he also became a gunner in Guelph with the Number 2 Battery, later
Quartermaster Sergeant, Second Lieutenant, and then Lieutenant.
Click
He received a Bachelor degree from UofT Medical School and started practicing
medicine at different hospitals.
Click
Once the South African War started, John was commissioned to lead an artillery battery
out of Guelph. This was part of the D Battery, Canadian Field Artillery.
Click
In December 1899 they sailed to South Africa, and they spent one year there.
Click
In 1905 John set up his own practice as well as working and lecturing at several hospitals.
Click
John was appointed brigade surgeon of the First Brigade of Canadian Forces Artillery
when Canada declared war on Germany on August 14th, 1914.
Click
During 1915 John was stationed in Flanders, which was near Ypres Belgium. In the
trenches he tended to hundreds of soldiers. On May 22 during heavy fire John wrote “In
Flanders Fields”. We don’t know for sure but it was thought that he wrote this poem
either in a trench or sitting on an ambulance. That morning the poppies were blooming
and he wrote this poem to bring a voice to his fallen companions, and this was the last
poem he ever wrote.
Click
Shortly after the writing of the poem that became known as the poem of World War One,
John was transferred to a hospital in France.
http://www.lonepinepublishing.com/cat/history/canadian_stories?PHPSESSID=a8f35bf5
13fcd0597fe823e6c0042af2
http://az.essortment.com/johnmccraebiog_rhxb.htm