Brothers, Arthur and Charles Blake played in the Wests RL Reserve Grade team in 1908 and 1909 and one of them played a game in First Grade in 1908. Given that Charles Blake made his Wests RL First Grade debut in 1909, it can be assumed that Arthur Blake made his Wests RL First Grade debut in 1908.
Charles Henry Blake served in the 1/13th and 1/45th Battalions AIF, 1915-1919. The 45th Battalion was raised in March 1916 in Egypt and was comprised of Gallipoli veterans and new recruits, mainly from NSW. Charles Blake was one of these new recruits. The Battalion arrived in France in June of 1916.
The 45th Battalion saw its first major action on the Western Front at Pozieres. After Pozieres, the 45th spent the period until March 1917 alternating between trench duty and training and rest behind the lines, firstly around Ypres in Belgium and then the Somme Valley.
The 45th was in Reserve for the first battle of Bullecourt and was heavily involved in the battle of Messines with significant casualties. The 45th was then engaged at Passchendaele in horrendous conditions. In 1918 the 45th played a crucial role in turning the German offensive at Dernancourt and then at the battle of Amiens which saw the retreat of the German Army.
The 1/45th Battalion was engaged in most of the major theatres of operation on the Western Front. Charles Blake was with the Battalion throughout its existence although he was in hospital on a number of occasions, being wounded twice and suffering from influenza and trench fever. He returned to Australia in 1919.
