Charles was the son of Joseph Henry Cantrell and his wife Eliza nee Brown. In 1911 he married Elizabeth Fulton and by the time he enlisted in August 1917, was a married man with four children to support. It would be another two months before he actually joined up and was allotted to the 9th reinforcements for the 40th Battalion, the group of reinforcements departing from Melbourne on the Aeneas on 30 October 1917.
On the voyage to England he was admitted twice to the ship’s hospital for treatment for a septic and again on reaching Devonport, England this time for a septic arm.
By April 1918 it was decided that he was not fit for active service and makes mention of an old injury to his right hand which does not appear to have been picked up on his initial examination as the reason for his return to Australia.
By the late 1920’s the family which had now grown in size, moved from central Hobart to Bellerive where Charles continued to work as a labourer.
When war broke out again in 1939, Charles volunteered again for service enlisting on 5 July 1940. He served with the 6/30th Garrison Battalion until he was discharged on 5 February 1945 with the rank of Lance Corporal.
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