John McCrae was born on November 30th, 1872 in Guelph, Ontario. He received his education at Guelph Collegiate and University of Toronto medical school. McCrae joined the Highland Cadet Corps at the age of fourteen and at seventeen he joined the Militia field battery commanded by his father. In 1898, John received a Bachelor of Medicine degree and the gold medal from the University of Toronto.
When the South African War, the Boer War, started in October 1899, John felt it was right and important for him to fight. He was commissioned to lead an artillery battery from Guelph and sailed for Africa in December and spent a year there with his unit. He then resigned from the military in 1904. When The Great War broke out in August 1914, John was among the first to enlist and was appointed brigade surgeon to the First Brigade Canadian Forces Artillery. On the 20th of April, the First Canadian Division began taking over a section of French Trench near Ypres, Belgium. This area was witnessed to some of the heaviest fighting of the Great War and was traditionally called Flanders.
On April 22nd, the Germans launched the first gas attack of the was against French troops who were holding the line next to the Canadians. Unfortunately, on May 2nd, Alex Helmer who was a good friend of John's, was killed by a shell and it was his death with some accounts say, inspired John to write the poem that has become symbolic for the suffering and loss of The Great War, In Flanders' Fields.
During the summer of 1917, John was troubled by attacks of asthma and bronchitis, possibly aggravated by the chlorine gas he inhaled at Ypres. On January 23rd, 1918, John felt ill with pneumonia and was admitted to a hospital. Six days later on January 28. 1918, John McCrae died at the age of 46. John was buried in Wimereux Cemetery, not far from the fields of Flanders.
When the South African War, the Boer War, started in October 1899, John felt it was right and important for him to fight. He was commissioned to lead an artillery battery from Guelph and sailed for Africa in December and spent a year there with his unit. He then resigned from the military in 1904. When The Great War broke out in August 1914, John was among the first to enlist and was appointed brigade surgeon to the First Brigade Canadian Forces Artillery. On the 20th of April, the First Canadian Division began taking over a section of French Trench near Ypres, Belgium. This area was witnessed to some of the heaviest fighting of the Great War and was traditionally called Flanders.
On April 22nd, the Germans launched the first gas attack of the was against French troops who were holding the line next to the Canadians. Unfortunately, on May 2nd, Alex Helmer who was a good friend of John's, was killed by a shell and it was his death with some accounts say, inspired John to write the poem that has become symbolic for the suffering and loss of The Great War, In Flanders' Fields.
During the summer of 1917, John was troubled by attacks of asthma and bronchitis, possibly aggravated by the chlorine gas he inhaled at Ypres. On January 23rd, 1918, John felt ill with pneumonia and was admitted to a hospital. Six days later on January 28. 1918, John McCrae died at the age of 46. John was buried in Wimereux Cemetery, not far from the fields of Flanders.