Charles Malcolm Smith was born on the 27 August 1891 to Malcolm and Maria Thornton Smith at Thursday Island in Queensland. At the outbreak of the First World War, Smith was clerk in the office of the Bowen Meatworks in Queensland. He tried to enlist at this time but was told he was too small. In in December 1915 when in the employ of the mining company Hampden Cloncurry Copper Mines Ltd he tried enlisting again and was accepted.
He was assigned to the 19th Reinforcement of the 25th Battalion and was given three weeks leave to get his affairs in order before arriving at Fraser camp in Enoggera in January of 1916. Smith along with the rest of the 19th Reinforcements travelled down to Sydney at the beginning of February and embarked on board the HMAT Wiltshire on the 7 February 1916.
The unit arrived in Devonport, England on 11 April 1917 and were transferred to Rollestone camp. In June of 1917, as he knew Gregg shorthand, he applied for and was given a position in the Battalion Orderly room. He held this position until June of 1918 when he proceeded overseas to France and joined up with the rest 25th Battalion. After the Armistice in November of 1918 he stayed with the now 26th Battalion, as the 25th Battalion been merged into the 26th in October of 1918, until a position opened up at Australian Imperial Force (AIF) Administrative Headquarters in London in December of 1918. He worked at AIF Headquarters as part of the Pay Corps until a position on a ship returning to Australia became available. Smith departed England aboard H.T Raranga on the 8 September 1919, disembarked at Sydney on 29 October 1919 and entrained to Brisbane for the final leg of his journey.
Charles Malcolm smith died in Queensland in 1979.