Regimental Number: 2393340
Rank: Private
Branch: 4th Battalion, Canadian Machine Gun Corps
Charles was born in Goderich, Ontario on November 7, 1893. He came across the Edson Trail in 1912 with his father, David Alexander Johnston, and five brothers. Charles enlisted in the Canadian army in May of 1917. Three of his brothers – William Earl, Willis David, and Hugh Norman – also served overseas. When he returned after the war, Charles married widow Anna Marie Laffinier Steffen, who had two children from her previous marriage. For three years he worked at the Bowness Sanatorium in Calgary. In 1923 he and his family moved to Bezanson (NW 25-71-3-W6, NE 26-71-3-W6). By this time Charles and Marie had had two children, Dorothy and Willis. In 1946 Charles sold his land and moved back to Ontario, though he returned to the Goodwin area in 1940 and filed on a homestead at 5-72-1-W6. Charles died in Grande Prairie on April 8, 1966 and was buried in the Goodwin cemetery.
Sources: Smoky River to Grande Prairie, p. 18; Centennial Celebration Edson Trail p. 113; photograph courtesy of Wanda Zenner