Telegram: O.C. No. 14 General Hospital. To O.C. No. 3 General Hospital,
B.E.F., January 28th, 1918: Lieut.-Col. John McCrae died this morning.


This was the end. For him the war was finished and all the glory of the world
had passed.

Henceforth we are concerned not with the letters he wrote,
but with the letters which were written about him. They came
from all quarters, literally in hundreds, all inspired by pure sympathy,
but some tinged with a curiosity which it is hoped this writing
will do something to assuage.

Let us first confine ourselves to the facts. They are all contained
in a letter which Colonel Elder wrote to myself in common with other friends.
On Wednesday, January 23rd, he was as usual in the morning;
but in the afternoon Colonel Elder found him asleep in his chair
in the mess room. "I have a slight headache," he said.
He went to his quarters. In the evening he was worse,
but had no increase of temperature, no acceleration of pulse or respiration.
At this moment the order arrived for him to proceed forthwith
as Consulting Physician of the First Army. Colonel Elder writes,
"I read the order to him, and told him I should announce the contents at mess.
He was very much pleased over the appointment. We discussed the matter
at some length, and I took his advice upon measures for carrying on
the medical work of the unit."

Next morning he was sleeping soundly, but later on he professed to be