Charles William Mould, born on 22nd March 1894, was admitted to King Edward’s School in September 1907, having attended Handsworth Grammar School. He lived with his widowed mother, Clara, and his two brothers at 76, Himley Road, Dudley. His brothers, Hubert and David, were also Old Edwardians and both served during the war, Hubert with the Royal Army Medical Corps and the Royal Air Force, and David as an Army Chaplain in Mesopotamia, Egypt and Palestine.
At School, Charles was not an outstanding athlete, placing second in the under 15 long jump in 1908, with “not a very startling jump.” He was overshadowed by his brother David, who played in the 1st XV and was an active member of the Debating Society. However, Charles was at the top of his class academically, placing first in science and second in French, in which he was awarded a Speech Day Prize. In July 1909, Charles left School, presumably due to the death of his father, David, on 12th April earlier that year. To support the family, he worked as a municipal clerk for the Corporation of Birmingham (now Birmingham City Council).
In September 1914, Charles was gazetted from Birmingham University Officer Training Corps as a Second Lieutenant in the 5th King’s (Shropshire Light Infantry). He was sent to serve in France, and rose swiftly through the ranks, being promoted to Captain only two weeks before his death at Railway Wood near Ypres on 25th September 1915, aged twenty-one. He is buried in Ypres Reservoir Cemetery, Flanders, and he left his estate of £77 to his mother.