REELY'S POETRY PAGES

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.

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John McCrae

When the UK declared war on Germany at the start of WWI, Canada declared war as well.  John McCrae as  a field surgeon in the Canadian artillery, was in charge of a field hospital during the 2nd Battle of Ypres in 1915. 

McCrae's friend and former student, Lt. Alexis Helmer, was killed in the battle.  His burial inspired In Flanders Fields, which was written on May 3, 1915 and first published in the magazine Punch.