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Charles joined the Australian Army at Sydney in 1914, and sailed with the Australian Expeditionary Force in October that year. They initially went to Egypt, then went to Gallipoli, serving in practically the whole operation there, before returning to Egypt. He was then sent to France in April 1916. He spent a leave later that year in Brecon; at the same time his brother Frank, a sergeant major with the Royal Engineers, was also home on leave. On return to France he rejoined the battalion who were fighting on the Western Front, mainly in the Somme valley and around Ypres.
Charles was reported missing in France, in April 1917 and his death in action was confirmed later in the year.
Lance Corporal Charles Guest Campion
Australian Infantry, 4th Battalion, 1st Infantry Brigade
Killed in action April, 15th, 1917 in France, aged 34
Buried at Dept. de la Somme, Picardie. Memorial at Villers-
Bretonneux, France
Charles Guest Campion was born in Brecon in October 1882, the son of Thomas and Jane. Thomas was born in Ireland but settled in Brecon and was a grocer and provisions dealer, and later a commercial traveller. Jane Guest married Thomas in 1866. she was born in Westminster but had lived in The Struet, Brecon since a small child.
The family were living in High Street soon after the marriage, but had moved to The Struet by 1881. The birth of Charles and a younger sister Clara at Llanddew suggests they were living there in the early 1880s. Charles' father died in 1886, aged 46 with youngest daughter Helena born in January, 1887. The family had moved to 4, Harp Terrace by 1891 and Jane lived there for most of the rest of her life, dying in 1928, aged 84.
By 1901, Charles, at 18 years old, was still living at home, but working as a footman. He emigrated to Australia in the early 1900s and appears to have worked as a steward on the passenger ships for some years. His sister, Helena Beatrix, had also emigrated there and managed a millinery establishment. Another sister, Florence Jane, emigrated there in 1913.