Current Information:

Born-Oatlands, Surrey

On 12th August, 1916, after having been in the thick of the fighting on the Somme, 12th Division moved north, away from the battlefield to the much quieter trenches around Riviere and Wailly, just to the south of Arras, where they were to spend the next six weeks. On 24th August, the 7th East Surrey battalion of 37 Brigade moved into the front line here where they remained until relieved on 6th September. The Battalion Diary for this two week tour recorded that all was quiet with little shell fire to bother them. The entry for 4th September reported that it was ‘quiet’ but it is unlikely that Charles Smith, who was killed on this day, would have found it so. There is no mention of his death in the diary.