*The Biography of John McCrae*
*"If we do not end war – war will end us. Everybody says that, millions of
people believe it, and nobody does nothing" H.G. Wells. I believe that John
McCrae would have agreed with H.G. Wells. John McCrae was born in Guelph,
Ontario. He wrote the famous Canadian poem "In Flanders Fields", after his
experiences in the war at Ypres, Belgium. John McCrae was enlisted after
the beginning of World War 1 in 1914, and was posted as a medical officer
at Ypres,* *on April 1915. *
*Many people believe that John McCrae wrote "In Flanders Fields" on May 3,
1915. He was a thoughtful man, who expressed his feelings through poems.
When he wrote the poem, he wasn't very sure as to what or why he wrote the
poem. He discarded the poem after writing it, but a soldier picked it up
and sent it in to **Punch magazine. I think he was trying to send a
message, through his poem; but he wasn't sure what his message was.*
*McCrae was a great physician. He studied at the University of Toronto, and
trained at the Alexandra Hospital. Whenever he treated the injured soldiers
he wrote letters home explaining the casualties. He was one of the doctors
for the Boer war in South Africa. June 1915, he was transferred to Boulogne
No.3 General Hospital, because of his pneumonia; on January 28, 1918 he
died. John McCrae believed that war was to be stopped, but he couldn't do
anything to stop it. *