We visited one of the World War One sites that most Canadians can relate to. We went to the Essex Farm Cemetery and Advanced Dressing Station in Belgium. It is also the location where John McCrae wrote his famous poem “In Flanders Fields”.

We walked down a path that led to the field dressing station. There were several rooms made in concrete under the ground that was used to treat soldiers. This is where John McCrae served as a medical doctor for a period of time during the war.

We went into the rooms which were small, damp and they had low ceilings.

In the room, there were Canadian flags, crosses, poppies and other memorials dedicated to the Canadian soldiers who died during World War One.

The  Essex Farm Advanced Dressing Station is where Major John McCrae composed the poem “In Flanders Fields”. There was a plaque explaining the history of the poem and Major John McCrae.

The Poem was also inscribed on the plaque.

After visiting the dressing station and reading the information on John McCrae we went into the Essex Farm Cemetery.

We walked through the cemetery reading the names of some of the soldiers who died during the first world war.

We came across the gravestone of a Soldier named Valentine Joe Strudwick who died at the age of only 15.

It was interesting to see the location where John McCrae wrote the poem “In Flanders Fields” It was also a moving experience to see the cemetery and see the gravestone of a 15-year-old soldier.

“Tot ziens en een goede dag”