Subsequently, during the campaigns of World War I, Lecca was a Captain of the Ammunition Department in the 22nd Division, which withdrew with the rest of the army into Western Moldavia. Also during that interval, a revue of his, "Dandanaua" ("The Mishap") was being staged by Maximilian in German-occupied Bucharest—it was cancelled after reports that it was mocking the occupiers. While recovering at Podu Iloaiei in winter 1916, Lecca showed signs of a debilitating illness (sometimes described as a war injury), confessing to Ludovic Dauș that he was slowly dying, but still hoping to find a miracle cure. Decommissioned in summer 1917, he was living in Iași, with Natalia Lecca as his nurse. Among his last works was another volume of poetry, "Simpla" ("The Simple One"). Almost completely paralyzed in 1918, he continued to be conscious and responsive although, as Iorgulescu recalls, he was socially dead.