FENWICK, Charles Philip

Major-General Charles Philip Fenwick served as the 14th Surgeon General of the Canadian Army. His career spanned both world wars: a First War Military Cross earned in command of a field ambulance at Amiens, a stint between the wars in civilian medical practice, and a 1943 return to uniform that carried him through the 2nd Canadian Division’s wartime medical organisation in England and, finally, to Director-General of Medical Services for the entire Canadian Army overseas.

Early life

Fenwick was born in St. John’s, Newfoundland, on 10 July 1891. He took his medical training at the University of Toronto and graduated with his Bachelor of Medicine in 1916 — the graduating class whose members overwhelmingly went into the Canadian Army Medical Corps as the First World War entered its attritional phase.

First World War

Fenwick joined the Canadian Army in June 1916, was posted to the CAMC, and went overseas. In 1917 he was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel and given command of the Canadian 2nd Field Ambulance.

The 2nd Field Ambulance served with the 1st Canadian Division. It was deployed at the Battle of Amiens in August 1918 — the opening action of what became known as Canada’s Hundred Days, the final Allied offensive of the war. For his conduct at Amiens, Fenwick was awarded the Military Cross. The MC is unusual for an officer at lieutenant-colonel rank; it recognised personal gallantry at the front line rather than administrative command alone.

Inter-war civilian practice

Fenwick was demobilised and returned to Canada. He set up a civilian medical practice at Niagara Falls, Ontario, where he worked from 1920 to 1923, before relocating to Toronto and practising there for the next two decades.

Orange Order

His lodge affiliation through this period was with McKinley L.O.L. No. 275 — the Toronto lodge that had earlier counted Francis Henry Medcalf as its Master and John Shaw as a member.

Second World War and Surgeon General

Fenwick rejoined the Canadian Army at the age of fifty-two. His 1943 commission placed him with the 2nd Canadian Division’s England establishment, with the appointment of Deputy Director of Medical Services for the division.

He was subsequently promoted to Major-General and appointed Director-General of Medical Services for the Canadian Army in England — the senior Canadian medical officer in the European theatre. He became the 14th Surgeon General of the Canadian Army. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) and made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), and held an Efficiency Decoration (ED).

Death

Fenwick died in Toronto on 20 March 1954, at the age of sixty-two.