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15/05/1882 - 13/06/1915

Place of birth: Madras, India
Last known address in Bromley: 28 Bromley College

Military information

Regiment/Service: Royal Marine Light Infantry
Battalion/Ship: Deal RN Div
Rank: Captain
Number: Unknown

Family information

Parents: Rev George & Caroline Flora Billing (nee Gabbett)
Parents' occupation: Vicar, missionary
Siblings: Mary, Edward

Census information

1901
Address: Royal Naval College, Greenwich
1911
Address: HMS Encounter Tonga

Extra details

Charles was born in Madras, the eldest of the Reverend George and Caroline Flora Billing's three children. George had been a missionary in Madras from 1871 to 1888 and afterwards vicar of Sturry and Platt. Charles was educated at the Junior King's School, Canterbury from May 1892 to July 1896, at Dover College, and at the Royal Naval College Greenwich, after which he entered the Royal Military College Sandhurst in 1900.

He received his commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Marine Light Infantry on the 1st of January 1901, was promoted to Lieutenant on the 1st of January 1902 and to Captain on January 1st 1912. He served on the China station in 1903, the West Indies in 1906, the Mediterranean in 1908 and the Pacific station in 1912. He learned to fly at the Ewen School at Hendon and was awarded his Aero Certificate (number 665) on the 27th of October 1913 flying a Caudron Biplane.

In 1914 he was appointed to the light cruiser HMS Doris and, following the outbreak of war, he was posted to HMS Cormorant on Ascension Island on the 8th of August 1914, remaining there until the 5th of March 1915 when he returned to England. He sailed from Plymouth on the 10th of May 1915 bound for the Dardanelles with a draft of men and joined the Deal Battalion, Royal Naval Division at Cape Helles, Gallipoli on the 30th of May. Shortly after joining the battalion in the trenches, Charles Billing was shot in the head and killed by a sniper.

On June the 16th 1915, Sergeant William Jackson Shaw, of No.1 Platoon, A Company, Deal Battalion, noted in his diary:- "I forgot to say that we lost Captain Billing the day before yesterday in the trenches, shot through the head. He had only just joined us from England so he did not last long, did he, but really it was his own fault - would not be told or would not do as told to keep his head down. He wanted to see all at once instead of a little bit at a time."

He is commemorated by a Special Memorial at Redoubt Cemetery Helles, Gallipoli, meaning that he is believed to be buried in the cemetery, but his grave has since been lost.

Thank you to King's School Canterbury for their assistance.