Charles Van der Byl was born on 19 November 1894 the son of Charles Le Febre van der Byl (a General Agent) and Kate Amy Van der Byl (née Eaton) and came from Cape Town, South Africa.  He was from an illustrious South African family.  He initially joined the Royal Navy as a Cadet on 15 September 1907.

Promoted to Sub Lieutenant on 15 March 1915, he then served aboard the battleship HMS GOLIATH.  He was a lucky survivor when GOLIATH was sunk during the Gallipoli campaign in the Dardanelles in 1915 with the loss of 570 of the crew.

Lieutenant Van der Byl then transferred to the submarine service and was assigned to HMS  G1, a “G” Class submarine built at Chatham Dockyard, and launched on the 14 August 1915.

HMS G1 survived the war, however very sadly Charles Van der Byl did not.  He was lost overboard and drowned on 9 October 1916. He was the Officer of the Watch on the bridge when it was struck by an exceptionally heavy sea and the bridge partially collapsed.  His drowning occurred just three months after the loss of his fellow South African pioneer and submariner William Tatham (q.v.)

He is commemorated on the Chatham Naval Memorial Panel 15.