Lives of the First World War

Alexis Helmer and John McCrae both served with Canadian Forces during the war. Helmer was killed by a shell near Ypres, Belgium on 2 May 1915. McCrae wrote the famous poem 'In Flanders Fields' as a tribute to his friend, inspired by the appearance of poppies near to the graves. In 1918, in response to McCrae's poem, American humanitarian Moina Michael wrote 'And now the Torch and Poppy Red, we wear in honor of our dead…'. She campaigned to make the poppy a symbol of remembrance of those who had died in the war, and since 1921 poppies have been sold in Britain to support ex-servicemen and women and their families.

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