Charles joined the Hong Kong Police in 1939. Originally from Dundee in Scotland, he set sail from London on board the Viceroy of India on 25 August 1939 bound for Yokohama. The exact date of the photograph is unknown but assume it was sometime between his arrival in Hong Kong in 1939 and his internment in Stanley Camp after December 1941.
In about 1942 Charles contracted TB (he is mentioned in Barbara Anslow's Diary for 20 December 1942 as being in the hospital). He survived the war and afterwards spent some time recuperating in Australia. He arrived back in the UK on 14 April 1946. Unfortunately he died from TB on 11 August 1947.
The photograph was sent to his then girlfriend, Miss Elizabeth Sturrock, who never married and kept the photograph for the rest of her life.