Courtland Casimir Fissette

Rank:

Captain

Unit at enlistment:

Canadian Army Medical Corps

Force:

C.E.F.

Volunteered or conscripted:

Volunteered

Survived the war:

Yes

Cemetery:

Mount Hope Cemetery, Brantford, Ontario

Commemorated at:

Zion Presbyterian Church

Birth country:

Canada

Birth county:

Haldimand

Birth city:

Nanticoke, Ontario

Address at enlistment:

110 Darling Street, Brantford, Ontario

Next of kin address:

110 Darling Street, Brantford, Ontario

Trade or calling:

Physician

Employer:

Massey-Harris Co.

Religious denominations:

Methodist

Marital status:

Married

Age at enlistment:

Letters and documents

BX June 23, 1916

Dr. C.C. Fissette Makes and Appeal – Is Shortly to Leave for England to Join Staff of a Base Hospital – With the R.A.M.C.

Dr. Fissette, who has received an appointment with the Imperial Army Medical Corps, and leaves shortly for one of the base hospitals, has sent the following appeal to the Expositor:

Come on Boys! An Appeal

To the Editor of The Expositor,

Sir,

A peculiarity of this country and of its civilization is that things have been coming pretty easy for a long time.

This thought was impressed upon me during the Decoration Day observance in the United States last month. There was, I think, in the mind of the middle-aged a dim memory of the day when Decoration Day was so shadowed by the immediate presence of the war’s tragedy that it brought real tears, and a patriotic inspiration that gripped the heart. That was some years ago. Then the men who marched in the memorial line of the “Blue” were the men who carried the affairs of their community on their shoulders; they were the strong men of the day, and their presentation of the war’s traditions served to weave a fiber of war into the entire consciousness of the time. But that was some time ago, when there were “coal-oil lamps” and “lumber wagons,” with “brown sugar” at regular meals. There were also long distances to be slowly travelled and money was scarce. The times were primitive and the people were more thoughtful. Then came the marvelous joy riding period of prosperity, whose first approach was heralded by the general introduction of electric lighting. The spread of the telegraph the daily paper and the institution of free mail delivery. Then made the great golden dynasty that formally opened with the prosperity era of the later “nineties,” gained headway as the automobile came into being, hit a broad downgrade with the multiplication of conveniences and business opportunities – and that for the past ten years has fairly “scorched.” Meanwhile the old soldiers have grown older and fewer and the Decoration Day parade has become shorter. The present called stridently for recognition the past seemed very far away. The present seemed all wrought in comfort and convenience upholstered in leather and served by the push of a button. The past seemed like something from which it were well to have recovered, but unless that past that comes down in the present in those Decoration Day ceremonies and in other like observances, unless that past reminds this present that this present and all that it holds was bought with sacrifice and must be held by sacrifice, this present will not last. The sacrifice may be of blood and life at times, comfort and selfishness; assuredly it must be of something. [?] so inexorable as that “That the bread of privilege shall be gotten by the sweat of sacrifice.” Strong men stood for principle in 1776. They might have bartered and traded and joy-rided and made easy terms to keep out of trouble, but instead they faced trouble and made a nation.

Those veterans of that parade might have had the same excuses as some today have “Let George do it.” There were business opportunities then as now, selfishness offered as many arguments, but there came to them the realization that privilege requires sacrifice and they made the sacrifice, they thought in terms of a nation.

These fair streets, this well-ordered civilization, this splendid commerce, this abundance of work with liberal pay, the security which surrounds our home, the school that educates our child, the right to come and go at will – these things are not gifts handed down by luck to reward the special virtues of 1916. These things were bought in agony and in blood and defended with the last resource that manhood had to give, and we cannot keep them by the gay consultation of personal pleasure when our county has work to do.

Our country has work to do every time there is a law to be observed, an election to be held - every time there is a place where the country can be bettered by consecrated thought of its citizens.

Those men who marched to the graves of their comrades that day suggested to me “They paid the price, high-priced, but worth the price.”

There were men who stayed home
And made money
There were men who went to the war.
There were riches for one, and cheers for the other –
Which one do you envy more?

Come on boys! Get into line. I am going, and my modesty almost prevents me from suggesting my sacrifice, but I do it only as an incentive to make you realize that sacrifices must be made.

Life at its longest is short as compared to eternity, so in the words of Patrick Henry, “Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course other may taken, but as for me and mine, give us liberty or give us death.”

Self-protection is the first law of nature. The willingness to protect others as well as self separates human-kind from the brute. Are you a BRUTE?

“The fittest place where man can die is where he dies for man.”

C.C. Fissette

P.S. Let us have a selective conscription rather than a general one. Leave the boys in the shops alone and go after every man occupying a position that can be filled by a woman. What is the use of taking men from the shops and putting them in uniform without munitions? Appoint a committee in every city, town, village and hamlet to decide who should or should not enlist. – C.C.F.

BX July 23, 1917

Dr. C.C. Fissette Returns Home – Local Surgeon Completed Year’s Service with British Military Hospital

Dr. C.C. Fissette who for the past year has been doing surgeon’s work with the British army, in command of the surgical cases in a large district in the north of England, returned home today, having completed the year for which he proffered his services.

That those were much appreciated was shown in the responsible positions which he held while in the Old Land, as he had charge of hospitals for surgical cases in North England with thousands of cases passing through his hands, over 200 doctors being under him. His work was entirely satisfactory there.

BX July 24, 1917

Britain Looks for Conscription of Canadians – Dr. C.C. Fissette Returns After a Year of Surgical Work in Army – Surgery Has Been Revolutionized

That the people of England are anxiously awaiting the day when Canada will rise to the occasion and enforce compulsory service, and when the Province of Quebec will be forced to shoulder arms in the defence of the principles of right, is the message which Capt. (Dr.) C.C. Fissette brings to the City of Brantford after having spent 12 months as surgical specialist in York, the military headquarters from the Northern Command at Haxby Road where convoys of wounded are received direct from France.

Hurriedly, as he was about to leave the city for Goderich, where with Mrs. Fissette and Mr. and Mrs. Wismer he will spend the next ten days recuperating after his sojourn in the land where the horrors of war are brought home, he related in brief in an interview last night the story of the great work being accomplished on behalf of the wounded men from Canadian and other shores, who have laid themselves on the altar of sacrifice against the foe of Prussianism.

“The war has in itself revolutionized the practice of surgery in all its branches,” said he. “Lives and limbs have been saved in cases in the military hospitals overseas during this war which heretofore would have been considered hopeless. Great credit must be given to the excellence of the nursing staff,” he went on, “and to all those who have been faithful night and day and poorly recompensed for their labors with the exception of the reward they receive from the realization of a duty nobly done. Mention must also be made of the long-suffering patient, and ever optimistic ‘Tommy’ who bears his wounds and his pain without a murmur, as no better fighting material, both in sickness and in health, can be found in the world.”

He told of the most recent innovations in the way of treatment; one of these being the use of his muthlodoform paste and also the Correl-Daken treatment. The latter treatment was instituted by an American, supplementary improvement being made on it by an Englishman and it has been so successfully adopted, that even in the French hospitals cards have been placed in the surgical wards on which is intimated that “Any patient who discovers he has pus in his wound may ask the surgeon, why?”

He told of it having been his pleasure to pay a visit to the Kingswood Convalescent Hospital which has been generously taken over and fully equipped by the Massey-Harris Company of Brantford, the assistant matron in charge of that institution being Miss Powell of this city, who has the confidence of every non-commissioned officer in the area.

As to when the war might end, he stated that the people of England are optimistic as to what the ending will be and in whose favor, but are firm in the belief that some time must yet elapse were the curtains of peace are drawn. However, the long end had been hastened materially by the entry of the United States, thanks to the republic whose navy is checking the submarine menace.

“The airplane,” said he, “is the greatest menace today, and the problem has been one difficult to deal with but invariably when allied men have met the foe in the air the victory has been on our side, and the day is approaching when, too, the allied planes will be lords of the air.” The Allies have had much to contend with in this war,” he, went on. “The dissension in Russia, in India and in Canada has all tended more or less toward the discouragement, but after all, victory is assured.”

In the York Military hospital the most serious of cases were treated. The hospital consists of some 350 beds and every conceivable case for operation was handled there. The institution is under the supervision of Sir Berkley Moynihan of Leeds who made weekly visits of inspection. Dr. Fissette speaks in the highest terms of the men who have gone forth to fight, who have bled and died in the struggle for the freedom of the world. It was on board the steamer bound for Canada that he first heard the news of the general election to be brought on here and therefore could say nothing as to the feeling overseas in this case.

BX September 14, 1917

The Work of the R.A.M.C. – Capt. Dr. Courtland Casimir Fissette Gave Interesting Review of Itinerary of a Wounded Soldier from the Battlefield to the Convalescent Hospital – Service Flags to be Distributed by Rotary Club Within Two Weeks

A most interesting raconteur of the experiences of the wounded soldier from the time he receives his wound until he leaves the convalescent hospital discharged, or is otherwise provided for, was given to the members of the Rotary Club yesterday afternoon, by Capt. Dr. C.C. Fissette, who for a year had charge of much important military medical work in England.

It was reported at the meeting that the special service flags, to be presented by the Rotary Club to all homes in the city which had a member or members at the front or overseas in khaki would be here within 10 days or two weeks. They will be personally presented at the homes of those entitled to them by members from the club, who will erect them. The flags will be of a white star or stars on a blue field, each star showing that one member of the household has “done his bit.”

Dr. C.C. Fissette

In his most interesting talk on the itinerary of the wounded soldier, Capt. Dr. Fissette said in part that the Imperial Army Medical Corps, to which he had the honor to belong, was of the most important if not the most important branch of the army service. An efficient army was one that maintained it strength at the maximum, and this could only be accomplished by its freedom from disease and the eerily return of the sick and wounded to the firing line. This was the work allotted to the R.A.M.C. It had to do with (1) the internal organization of medical units; (2) the formation of cadres for battalion (3) the equipping of hospital trains and ships; (4) the establishing of hospitals at home and abroad; (5) the provisioning of doctors, nurses, orderlies, drugs, instruments and dressings and the other innumerable details associated with work of this kind.

“Heretofore disease has been one of the greatest encourages of the army, annihilating more than shot and shell,” commented the speaker. Diseases such as cholera, typhus, typhoid, dysentery, and bubonic plague are now seen infrequently, and some are a pathological curiosity. This condition is due to the members of the R.A.M.C., who in times of peace have left home and dear ones to visit the plague-stricken countries of our world to investigate the cause the prevention and the cure of these formidable maladies. No soldier heading a forlorn hope ever presented one tithe of the sustained daring as these men who faced dangers that would appall the staunches heart. There deeds we unheralded, no trumpet inspired the charge. The only trumpet inspired the charge. The only sounds which greeted them were the despairing cries of the sick and the groans of the dying. Fame had for them no promise, and their only reward was the consciousness of a duty nobly done.

He traced the wounded soldier from the firing line where he was usually not rescued until night, struggling during the broiling sun or freezing cold until darkness protected him. Even at night the rescue work was hazardous, as shells burst continually over the field. The Red Cross had proved as much a target as a protection and the toll of death at the commencement of the war amongst the surgeons was equal to that of the artillery officers. The fate of the wounded was uncertain. The wounded soldier who would soon be able to return to the front was kept within sound of the guns lest he lose his morale.

His Destination

After leaving the trenches the wounded soldier is taken to the –

1. Advanced dressing station which is usually underground, lighted by electric torch or candle and containing doctors, orderlies, beds and dressing rooms.

2. Casualty Clearing Station, the first hospital visualized by the public – a stone building with all modern equipment.

3. Base hospital, where he is treated until cured; al operations of a serious nature being performed here.

4. Convalescent homes which consist of large public buildings, private estates or seaside hotels.

“There is no comfort dietetically, medically or socially that is denied the British Tommy and he in return is ever grateful and considerate of those who show these courtesies”

Dr. Fissette had but little experience with the wounded Germans but in general they were quiet, patient and gentlemanly. Only on two occasions did he see the opposite. One spat in the face of a nurse, the other on shaking hands fractured a small bone in the hand saying “You will not nurse another German for a while.” Both of these men were court-martialed and shot at dawn. The British were as high-minded as they were brave and their treatment of the enemy in the prison camps and hospitals was such as to make one marvel at their extraordinary restrain and benignity. It was a noble conqueror indeed who could display the same treatment to a bestial enemy as was accorded a worthy opponent. It was so with the British.

The doctor was stationed in York, the headquarters of the northern command, and had extensive experiences in all classes of cases, including brain, heart, lungs and abdomen. The lay mind had an idea, he said, that surgeons did a lot of experimental and unnecessary operations. This was wrong, for in no place was conservative surgery more noticeable than in the army. A soldier would be kept for months in a hospital if it was at all possible to save his limb when otherwise a rapid amputation would spare great expense to the country and needless work for the surgeon. The motto in his hospital was “Be bold when sure, but cautious in danger.” Every known method was adopted for the saving of life and limb and any surgeon who lightly or selfishly treated a wounded soldier was made short shrift of.

He also spoke of the returned soldier and described the meaning of an amputated limb to the public in general and that of the army surgeon.

In times of pace the loss of a limb was but a minor operation, for the patient was rushed to the hospital in pneumatic tired motor ambulances (not in Brantford) where amidst all comforts a rapid operation was performed and he left the hospital in 10 days. Under war conditions how different! Picture to yourselves the untold agony represented to the limbless soldier. He may have had blood poisoning, gas gangrene, tetanus, surgical pneumonia and several re-amputations before satisfactory stump is secured and then ask yourself, “can he ever be physically strong or mentally the same. Also ask yourself if you are doing all you can to encourage him and help him to bear his infirmities which have come to him through no fault of his own.”

In speaking of his relations with the English he said that he was amazed and overwhelmed at their kindness and hospitality. “The old formalities and stiffness with which John Bull used to lodge himself in has vanished. We are no longer Canadians. He is no longer English, but we are all joined hand to hand, under that one and great generic term call the British. All fighting, struggling and sacrificing in the same spirit with the same will and with like determination as our boys are advancing on the battle fields of Flanders.”

BX April 20, 1931

Sudden Death of Well-Known Doctor – Dr. C.C. Fissette Succumbs Sunday Morning to a Heart Attack – Had Been Coroner Many Years and Was Proficient in His Profession

The sudden demise took place on Sunday of Dr. C.C. Fissette, for many years a well-known Brantford physician. He had recently suffered from heart attacks but was so far recovered that the family attended morning service, and upon their return, found that he had passed away in his bed, no doubt as the result of a return of the malady.

Dr. Fissette, who was in his 56th year and a son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Fissette, was born in Nanticoke, Haldimand County, and came to this city as a child when his father became identified with the A. Harris and Son Company, afterwards the Massey-Harris Company. He attended public school and the Collegiate Institute in Brantford and later went to Toronto University, where he attained his M.D., after a brilliant course in medicine. This was in 1898 and he was the youngest graduate of his year. He next went abroad to still further amplify his medical qualifications, first of all in London and then in Edinburgh where he secured the degree of L.R.C.P., forming one of seven in a class of thirty who were successful in that endeavor. Returning to Brantford he commenced practice here and speedily established a very large clientele. He was a man who stood exceptionally high in his profession and it was always his endeavor to keep abreast of modern medical though and discovery.

For more than 30 years he occupied the position of coroner and discharged the duties attaching to that position in a most capable manner. His punctuality at such hearings was proverbial. He was of a very generous disposition and continually extended assistance in a most unostentatious way. A member of the Mothers’ Allowance Board since the inception, he had been a very faithful attendant at the meetings. He belonged to Doric Lodge A.F. and A.M. and was a member and physician of the I.O.O.F., Chosen Friends and Calanthe Lodge, Knights of Pythias. For many years also he had been a member of the Brantford Hospital staff. He is survived by his wife, formerly Miss Anna Wisner of this city and by one son, Courtland; also one sister, Mrs. Percy MacDonald, Brantford, and one brother, William, who resides in California. The funeral will take place from his late residence on Tuesday, afternoon to the Mausoleum in Mount Hope Cemetery.