GeoMinute: John McCrae: soldier, surgeon, poet
John McCrae was 41 years old when the First World War broke out in Europe. While serving as a surgeon in Belgium, he noticed wild poppies growing between graves, inspiring him to write “In Flanders Fields.” Learn more about the Canadian who penned one of most famous poems of all time.
Credits:
• Tom McCrae, John McCrae and Walter Gow, 1892. Courtesy of Guelph Museums, McCrae House (M1991.9.2.109).
• In Flanders Fields handwritten poem. Wikimedia Commons/Archive.org.
• Front Cover of Punch Magazine, December 8, 1915. Punch Cartoon Library/TopFoto (PCL200631).
• McCrae House, circa 1900. Courtesy of Guelph Museums, McCrae House (M1968X.373.1).
• Portrait of John McCrae by William Notman & Son, circa 1915. Courtesy of Guelph Museums, McCrae House (M1968X.354.1.1).
• Toronto School of Medicine, Gerrard Street East, southwest corner Sackville St. ca 1885. Courtesy of Toronto Public Library.
• Clinic at Alexandra, circa 1908. Courtesy of Guelph Museums, McCrae House (M1968X.436.1).
• John McCrae relaxing on a porch, Maine, September 1903. Courtesy of Guelph Museums, McCrae House (M1968X.436.3).
• John McCrae on Bonfire, circa 1917. Courtesy of Guelph Museums, McCrae House (M1998.9.2).
• Illustrated poem, In Flanders Fields, 1921, by John McCrae and Ernest Clegg. Wikimedia Commons/Archive.org.
• John McCrae’s grave at the Wimereux Communal Cemetery, 2019. Courtesy of Edward Walshe/Canadian Expeditionary Force Research Group 1914-1919.
This project has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada.
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