Charles was born on 7 October 1894 in Derby, Derbyshire, the only surviving chid of John William and Janet Ada (née Moncrieff) Buttle. An older brother, John Alexander (1892) passed away a few months after birth. In 1901 Charles was living with his mother, also named as Net of Kin, at 43 Alexander Street, Derby.

Charles entered the Royal Navy on 10 August 1910 when he walked through the gates of HMS GANGES the Boy Training Establishment in Shotley, Suffolk, and signed on as a Boy Second Class. On 11 February 1911 he was advanced to Boy First Class and was then drafted to HMS VIVID 1, the Royal Naval Barracks (RNB) in Devonport, Devon, on 27 June. On 1 August 1911 he was drafted to HMS PRINCE GEORGE and on 4 June 1912 to HMS LION and while on board was rated Ordinary Signalman on 7 October 1912, then to Signalman on 4 May 1913. He returned to VIVID 1 on 25 September, thence to HMS FORTH (Submarine Depot Ship) on 4 December 1913. Subsequent drafts were on 3 March 1916 to HMS DOLPHIN, 5 April HMS VULCAN, 1 July 1916 HMS HEBE, 13 February 1917 to HMS MAIDSTONE (for C25), 1 August HMS THAMES (C25), 1 October 1917 return to MAIDSTONE (C25).

On 6 July 1918 while on patrol and on the surface 15 miles East  of Orford Ness C25 was attacked by 5 German seaplanes who were returning to Zeebruge after an air raid on Lowestoft. Attacking out of the sun, C25 was sprayed with machine gun fire before it could use its single Lewis gun in defence. The commanding officer, Lieutenant David Bell, and 2 of the lookouts were killed immediately, the fourth man on the tower was mortally wounded. While the seaplanes continued with their attacks, crew members tried to drag the wounded man back into the submarine delaying the dive to safety. One of the bodies slid across the deck and a leg fell into the hatch opening stopping it from being closed. Two more men died while trying to clear the hatch and in the desperate situation a decision was made that the leg had to be amputated. By this point German machine gun fire had punctured the hull and damaged the propulsion motors. An E-class submarine had arrived on scene and drove off the aircraft with its deck gun and took  C25 under tow. The seaplanes had left to refuel and rearm and returned ready to attack again but were driven off by the arrival of the destroyer HMS LURCHER and all 3 vessels returned slowly to port.

Signalman Charles Arthur Buttle, Svc No. J9244 age 23 had “Crossed The Bar” with 5 of his shipmates.