Charles was born at Blights Row, Redruth on 12 Dec 1898, the son of Harold Gustavus Carlson (a bacon factory worker) and Emily Youlton. He was one of seven children, only three of whom survived to adulthood. In 1911 the family moved to Roscrea, Ireland, where Harold became a foreman at the Roscrea bacon factory.
According to Charles’ Royal Navy service record, he volunteered in 1914. The record lists the following ships and shows Charles’ rank as he was promoted during his career. In between ships, he was posted to H.M.S. Vivid, which later became H.M.S. Drake, a shore establishment in Plymouth. These postings are not shown below.
| Ship | Rank | Date Started | Date Ended |
|
Impregnable | Boy 2cl | 29 Nov 1914 | 2 Apr 1915 |
| Impregnable | Boy 1cl | 3 Apr 1915 | 14 Apr 1915 |
| Essex |
| 15 Apr 1915 | 9 Aug 1916 |
| Essex | Ord | 10 Aug 1916 | 23 Aug 1916 |
| Glorious |
| 14 Oct 1916 | 31 Jan 1917 |
| Glorious | Able Seaman | 1 Feb 1917 | 3 Mar 1919 |
| Blenheim |
| 1 June 1920 | 21 July 1922 |
| Vindictive |
| 22 July 1922 | 7 Aug 1922 |
| Caradoc | A.B. | 15 Mar 1923 | 15 Feb 1926 |
| Britannia |
| 16 Apr 1926 | 6 May 1929 |
| Eagle |
| 29 Aug 1929 | 12 July 1931 |
| Britannia |
| 28 July 1931 | 8 Mar 1932 |
| Calidor (Castor) |
| 22 Sep 1934 | 18 June 1935 |
| Herald |
| 21 Feb 1936 | 3 Apr 1938 |
| [pensioner] |
| 11 Dec 1938 |
|
| Adventure |
| 31 Jul 1939 | 13 Nov 1939 |