04/05/2026
In Flanders Fields…
On this day, Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae wrote In Flanders Fields while seated on the back of a field ambulance, only moments after burying his friend, Lieutenant Alexis Helmer, during the Second Battle of Ypres. As he looked out across the makeshift graves, the red poppies stirring in the wind became the spark for one of the most enduring poems of the First World War.
Published in Punch magazine in December 1915, the poem quickly travelled far beyond the battlefield. Translated into many languages and embraced around the world, it has become a lasting symbol of remembrance for those who gave their lives in service.
McCrae remains one of the most admired war poets of his generation — a voice of duty, grief, and unbroken resolve.
We will remember him.
"In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields."
📷- John McCrae with dog (no copyrights)
