Charlie was born on 31st December 1900 in South East London. He was the eldest son of six children and in 1916, at the age of 15, he joined the Royal Navy as a boy sailor. He was too young to be assigned to active duty in WW1 and therefore, after basic training at Devonport, he was posted to HMS Ganges, a shore based training establishment near Felixstowe on the East coast. Here he studied and qualified as a telegraphist. It is interesting to note that his training continued after qualifying in order to give him real time experience both at Ganges and then for several months with various ships in the Atlantic Fleet. This period was recorded as active war service for which he received the British War and Victory medals.

When hostilities ceased in 1918 Charlie was transferred to the RN Barracks at Chatham where he signed on for a twelve year term. His service life took him firstly to the Caribbean and then to the Mediterranean Fleet where he served on a number of warships from destroyers to battleships. He clearly enjoyed his time travelling to new lands and cultures, sharing his life with cherished shipmates and participating in many sporting activities, things he could never have done growing up in South East London.

His Royal Navy career ended in 1930 and he returned to London and civilian life where he found employment as an 'Examiner' at Woolwich Arsenal. He had signed on the Fleet Reserve and it can be assumed that his civilian employment was concerned with the Telegraphy training school at the Arsenal enabling him to keep abreast of any new developments in this field of technology. He met a younger brother's wife and her family at this time, fell in love with one of her sisters and they married in 1934. A daughter was born in January 1935 and a son in December 1938. He was recalled to the Fleet Reserve during the Munich Crisis of 1935 and then stood down when this appeared to be over only to be recalled again in 1939 when Britain declared war on Nazi Germany. He was immediately posted to Hong Kong and was never to see his young family again!

Atlantic Fleet Ships served on as a trainee in WW1:

• Hercules
• Bellerophon
• Diligence
• Woolwich

Mediterranean Fleet Ships served on between the wars:

• Venomous with temporary attachments to
• Columbia
• Diligence
• Sandhurst
• Egmont

Charlie served in the Royal Naval Communications Centre on Stonecutters Island, Kowloon and when the Imperial Japanese Army attacked Hong Kong on 8th December 1941 Stonecutters Island and Kowloon were quickly overrun. British Naval signallers held on as long as possible but then destroyed the installations before evacuating, under fire, to HMS Tamar on Hong Kong Island on 11 December. It is not known whether Charlie remained at HMS Tamar for the remainder of the siege period or whether he was assigned to other areas of the island.

At the capitulation on Christmas Day 1941 Charlie became a POW in Shamshuipo Camp and was among those who were later confined in Hold Number 1 on the Japanese prison ship, Lisbon Maru. This infamous ship was sunk by the American submarine, USS Grouper, on 2nd October 1942 with the loss of 828 prisoners. Several photographs exist showing Charlie as a member of various sports teams, including water polo, so it may be assumed that he was a strong swimmer. Drowning is therefore unlikely to have been his fate on escaping Hold No 1 unless health issues after 9 months of brutal captivity had affected his ability. He, like so many of his comrades on that dreadful day, was probably a victim of deliberate machine gun fire.

The full story of The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru can be seen in the documentary film of the same name or references read elsewhere on this website.