Yesterday marked 100 years since John McCrae wrote In Flanders Fields. Inspired by the death of his friend Alexis Helmer, the poem and its symbolic poppies have become iconic remembrances of sacrifice in war.
This statue of McCrae was unveiled yesterday in Ottawa. It is on Green Island, where the Rideau River flows into the Ottawa River. Sculptor Ruth Abernethy captures him at the moment of writing the poem. Three members of the Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery (RCA) inspecting the statue when I took these photos were impressed by the accuracy of details like the buttons and shoe lacing.
An identical sculpture will be unveiled next month in Guelph, ON, McCrae’s birthplace.
The Guelph Mercury published an interesting feature section about McCrae and the poem last week.
Great War 100 Reads 
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