Charles was born in 1925. The CWGC records state that his parents were Hermann and Ester Wapnitski but little else is known about his family life. A newspaper article in the Peterborough Standard, 24 November 1944, stated that it was believed Charles was of Polish descent and had a sister in New York. Please contact us if you can provide further information.

Charles was a dispatch rider and was killed when his motor cycle was in a collision with an American Army truck on the Great North Road at Connington, South Cambridgeshire. Charles overtook the truck which then turned right into the camp colliding with his motor cycle. He died from his injuries before he reached the American base hospital. The coroner was satisfied that there was no negligence on the part of the driver of the truck. Charles’ death certificate states: Intra pneumonic haemorrhage with contusions and abrasions of left side of chest and laceration of right hip sustained when a motor cycle he was riding collided with a U.S. Army truck which was about to turn off the road into the entrance of a camp. Accident.