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Birth
John McCrea was born in Guelph, Ontario on November 30, 1872.
He was Lieutenant-Colonel David McCrae and Janet McCrae’s second son. John had a sister and a brother.Their names were Geills,and Tom. -
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Canadian War Hero
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Early Years (actual date unknown)
John McCrae started to write poetry when he was a student at the Guelph Collegiate Institute. When he was a boy, he was also interested in the military. He joined the Highfield Cadet Corps at 14. When John was 17, he enrolled in the Militia field battery that was commanded by his dad. -
Scholarship (actual date unknown)
John McCrae graduated from Guelph Collegiate when he was 16 and won a scholarship to the University of Toronto. He was the first ever student from Guelph to win it. After three years of going to this university, he was forced to take a year off, because of very bad cases of asthma. -
The Military (actual date unknown)
John McCrea also continued to be involved with the military. He became a gunner with the Number 2 Battery in Guelph in 1890, Quarter-Master Sergeant in 1891, Second Lieutenant in 1893 and Lieutenant in 1896. Back at the university, he was a member of the Queen's Own Rifles of Canada from there he became the company leader. -
Graduating (actual date unknown)
John soon felt that he could go back to his studies in Toronto in 1893. He then graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1894. John decided that he was going to go to University of Toronto medical school. -
Poetry (actual date unknown)
. While John was in medical school, he helped other students with difficult studies to help pay his university tuition. Amazingly, two of his students were some of the first women doctors in Ontario.
When he was training to be a doctor, John was also continuing to write poetry. At the university, he had written 16 poems and lot of short stories that were published in a bunch of magazines, including Saturday Night. -
Gold Medal (actual date unknown)
In 1898, John McCrae not only got a Bachelor of Medicine degree, he also received a gold medal from the University of Toronto medical school. He worked as local house officer at Toronto General Hospital from 1898 to 1899. -
South African War (actual date unknown
When the South African War broke out in October 1899, John felt that he had to go to war or he would feel guilty for the rest of his life. John was later ordered to lead an weapon storage cell from his home town. From here, his Guelph cohort joined part of the D Battery, Canadian Field Artillery. -
Promotions (actual date unknown)
John McCrae travelled to Africa in December 1899 and lived there with his unit until 1900. When he left South Africa, he was shocked by the bad treatment of people who were sick and hurt soldiers.
John McCrae retired from the 1st Brigade of Artillery in 1904 when he became Captain and then Major. He didn’t associate with the military again until 1914. -
WW1
On August 4, 1914, England declared war on Germany. Canada’s, citizen’s who was part of the english Empire, from all across the land quickly responded. In a time of just three weeks, 45,000 Canadians had jumped at the opportunity to join up. John McCrae found himself among those 45,000 who wanted to fight. He was designated brigade-surgeon to the First Brigade of the Canadian Field Artillery with the rank of not only Major but second-in-command as well. -
The Seconed Battle of Ypres (actual date unknown)
In April 1915, John McCrae was put in the trenches close to Ypres, Belgium, in a place called Flanders. Some of the worst fighting of the First World War was there. It was known as the Second Battle of Ypres. -
In The Trenches (actual date unknown)
Back in the trenches, John McCrae helped hundreds of injured soldiers every day. He was immersed by the dead and the dying. -
A New Hospital (actual date unknown)
Battle of Vimy Ridge, the third Battle of Ypres and from Arras and Passchendaele.Shortly after writting In Flanders’ Fields, he was transferred to No. 3 (McGill) Canadian General Hospital in France. There, he was Chief of Medical Services. The hospital was made up of huge tents at Dannes-Cammiers until freezing cold, soggy weather forced them to move to the ruins of the Jesuit College in Boulogne.
The hospital opened in February 1916. it was a 1,560-bed space that was 26 acres. Many of the wou -
Death
Sadly, he died of pneumonia and meningitis on January 28, after five days of feeling sick. On the first of the five days, he learned that he was now a consulting physician to the First British Army, the first Canadian ever to get that award.