 Charles Eaton was born on 21 December 1895 in Lambeth , London , the son of William Walpole Eaton , a <unk> , and his wife Grace . <unk> in <unk> , Charles worked in <unk> Town Council from the age of fourteen , before joining the London Regiment upon the outbreak of World War I in August 1914 . Attached to a bicycle company in the 24th Battalion of the 47th Division , he arrived at the Western Front in March 1915 . He took part in trench bombing missions and attacks on enemy lines of communication , seeing action in the Battles of <unk> Ridge , <unk> , <unk> , and the Somme . 
