Series consists of three original diaries kept by John McCrae, a microfilmed transcript of a portion of one of them, one original manuscript, and a few microfilmed manuscript drafts.
The first diary records a trip to Britain with McCrae's father in April to July of 1886. The diary contains 50 pages of entries written in pencil recording the crossing of the Atlantic on board the S.S. Etruria, McCrae's experiences in England and Scotland visiting historic sites and museums and staying in the country (while his father conducted business), and the passage back to Canada on board the S.S. Hibernian. The diary includes seven pages of re-worked texts for the period 22-28 April, written in pen and constituting an abandoned attempt to produce a more polished diary. At the back of the diary are 14 pages of notes, in pencil and coloured pencil, recording information about the ships, as well as five small sketches by McCrae: of an executioner's mask, axe and block at the Tower of London; of John Knox's grave markings, Edinburgh; of an iceberg; of landfall at Gaspé; and of a fishing vessel on the St. Lawrence.
The second diary was kept in 1900, during McCrae's service as a lieutenant with the artillery brigade which formed part of the Second Canadian Contingent sent to South Africa to fight the Boer War. The diary, comprising 60 sheets written on both sides, was kept from February to October 1900 and records the movement and activities of McCrae's unit (mileage travelled, camp set-up, his men's health, etc.). The third diary dates from the First World War, 1914-1915, before McCrae took up duties as chief medical officer of the Canadian General Hospital at Boulogne. The diary covers McCrae's service with the First Brigade, Canadian Field Artillery, under the command of E.W.B. Morrison, as part of the First Canadian Infantry Division in Flanders. The diary is in two parts: 103 pages dated from October 1914 to July 1915; and 51 pages covering the period March 1915 to June 1915.
The manuscript, which is undated, consists of a biographical sketch of adventurer Colonel Alexander Gardner (1785-1877) written by John McCrae.
The material on microfilm consists of a transcript of a portion of the 1914-1915 diary as well as drafts of a poem and sketches by John McCrae.
