The following information was copied from the Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillary

John McCrae, as both a surgeon and a gunner, had a long association with The Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery. At the age of 15, John McCrae joined the Wellington Field Battery in Guelph as the unit's bugler. The unit (now 11th Field Artillery Regiment) was commanded by his father David. At 18, John was a gunner in the Battery. He remained with the Battery during his university studies, rising to the rank of Lieutenant in 1896.

Later, while studying pathology at McGill, McCrae was unsettled by the British defeats in the South African War which had broken out in October 1899. He obtained permission to postpone his fellowship, and was accepted for service in December 1899 in the second contingent of Canadian soldiers being sent to South Africa. He was made a Lieutenant in 'D' Battery, Royal Canadian Field Artillery which had been recruited from artillery units in Guelph, Ottawa, London and Port Hope. In one skirmish, his right section silenced the Boer guns near Rustenburg. During his service with 'D' Battery, he established a close friendship with Lieutenant (later Major General Sir) E.W.B. Morrison, from Ottawa, who commanded the left section which saw action at the famous battle of Leliefontein in support of the Royal Canadian Dragoons.

At the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, McCrae held the rank of Major in the Militia, and was a staff doctor at the Montreal General Hospital. Shortly after the war broke out he offered his services either as a doctor or a gunner. The 1st Brigade of Canadian Field Artillery (C.F.A.) was commanded by his old friend from 'D' Battery, now Lieutenant-Colonel E.W.B. Morrison, who wished McCrae to join him. Major McCrae was accepted as the Medical Officer of 1st Field Brigade C.F.A.

In the Spring of 1915, during the heaviest fighting of the second battle of the Ypres Salient in Belgian Flanders, McCrae and his dressing station were within sight of the Canadian cemetery. As the fighting continued, McCrae had his hands full caring for the wounded, and he watched with dismay as the little wooden crosses daily grew more numerous. Wild poppies were already beginning to bloom around the graves. After seventeen exhausting days, he sat down and wrote his immortal poem "In Flanders Fields", which was published by Punch magazine that December.

During the Second Battle of Ypres, the First Canadian Division suffered great casualties at the hands of the Germans, including the first use of Chlorine Gas, but managed to hold back the German Advance. Four Canadians won the Victoria Cross. The Second Battle of Ypres brought the war home to Canada, and served as a stepping stone to the future Canadian success at Vimy Ridge.

Through John McCrae's famous poem, we wear poppies each November in remembrance of the great sacrifice Canadians have made in the defence of freedom.