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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.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

       In Flanders fields.

In Flanders Fields first appeared in Punch magazine on the 8^th December 1915. John McCrae, a Canadian doctor, was brought up in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. He served in Canadian contingent in the South African War in 1900 and he volunteered to serve in France in 1914. He saw extensive service in dressing stations and hospitals in France and Flanders.

Exhausted by his work and the stresses of war Lt Colonel McCrae died of pneumonia and meningitis on the 28^th January 1918 aged 45 and he is buried at Wimereux Cemetery near Boulogne.

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