THE STORY OF JOHN MCCRAE’S “IN FLANDERS FIELDS”

Remembrance Day always makes me proud of being a Canadian. My sense of patriotism is inspired by LtCol John McCrae, a Canadian Army Medical Officer, who wrote the famous poem, “In Flanders Fields.” It remains to this day one of the most renowned poems about World War I. It is an eternal legacy of the dreadful battle at Ypres, France in the spring of 1915. Written in the form of a French rondeau, this poem was adopted by most of the allied and commonwealth countries as an inspirational poem to read during Veteran’s or Remembrance Day ceremonies. It is, along with poppies, a symbol of Remembrance Day. Here is the story of the poem that almost did not make it to its present status.

John McCrae was a medical doctor and a writer, having written several medical texts besides dabbling in poetry. He had always put his civilian profession on hold to offer his services to the military when his country went to war. He put off accepting a Fellowship in Pathology at McGill University in order to go to South Africa during the Boer Wars and again when WWI broke out in 1914. It is not that he loved war, but his ties with the military started at an early age and kept him going back whenever he was needed. He was a cadet just like us who joined the Highland Cadet Corps which was affiliated with his school, the Guelph Collegiate Institute. He later became the bugler of the local militia commanded by his father at the age of 15.

As a doctor who spent more than a decade as a surgeon in both civilian and military duty, he had seen and heard enough suffering to last a lifetime. As a surgeon attached to the 1st Field Artillery Brigade, he spent seventeen days treating the casualties of war (Canadians, British, Indians, French and Germans) behind the front lines of Ypres. He later wrote about it and said, “I wish I could embody on paper some of the varied sensations of that seventeen days… Seventeen days of Hades! At the end of the first day if anyone had told us we had to spend seventeen days there, we would have folded our hands and said it could not have been done.”

One death that particularly affected him was when his young friend and former student, Lieutenant Alexis Helmer of Ottawa was killed. In the absence of a chaplain, McCrae had to solemnize the funeral rites of his friend after his death on 2 May 1915.

Major McCrae expressed his sorrow by writing a poem while sitting on the back of an ambulance parked near his dressing station, overlooking the cemetery where his friend was buried. From there, he could see the poppies that were in full bloom in that area. This was the inspiration for what became this popular and inspirational literary work about war and patriotism.

A 22-year-old Sergeant Major named Cyril Allinson who was delivering mail was a witness to this historical event. Major McCrae looked up as the young NCO approached but he continued to write while Allinson stood still in front of him. He recalled later that the major’s face looked very tired but calm, looking around from time to time with his eyes straying to his friend’s grave. After he finished writing, he collected his mail from Allinson and handed his pad to him to show him what he had written. The young NCO was surprised by what he read as it described exactly the scene in front of him, the cemetery, crosses, and the poppies being blown by a gentle east wind.

At the time, Allinson never imagined that the poem would be published. He witnessed the scene as McCrae crumpled and tossed the sheet away. Luckily, a fellow officer retrieved it and sent it to newspapers in England. It was rejected by the Spectator, a major British paper, but luckily, it was published on 8 December 1915 by Punch. The publication stimulated several responses that became famous along with the poem.

Especially on Remembrance Day, LtCol John McCrae’s “In Flanders Fields” makes us proud of being Canadians. His name and his poem will be remembered.

©Copyright November 2007 by Omar Bainto